Pompey boss John Mousinho's press conference ahead of Plymouth encounter
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00:00So Jon, 48 hours on, what would be your assessment of the game against Hull?
00:06Very similar to after the game. I think that we deserved to win the game. I thought the
00:09way that we played in the second half was excellent, probably the best half of football
00:13that we've played, certainly this season. And I was really pleased with the way that
00:18we reacted to going a goal down, stayed in the game. Nico did pull off a big save to
00:22make sure he didn't go to 2-0, but after that it was very little in the first half.
00:25So we gave ourselves a chance, I think, going into the second half, that was the most important
00:28thing. We gave ourselves a chance to then get on the front foot, press Hull up, we did,
00:33and I thought we were really unlucky not to come away with three points.
00:36You were really pleased with the second half performance. What in particular stood out
00:38for you?
00:40I was pleased with the performance as a whole. I know the two halves were contrasting, but
00:45I don't necessarily think that all the time away from home you can go after sides for
00:4995 minutes or probably 99, 100 minutes. I think that can be difficult. So I was pleased with
00:55the fact that we made it difficult for Hull in the first half without keeping a clean
01:01sheet. And I look back at the goal, it was a really, really good goal. There's things
01:04we can do better, but those are the sort of goals that I can live with a lot more than
01:08some of the others that we conceded this year, because I think Hull, it's a 25-pass move.
01:13We do try and press, and we get back into shape, and we get down on the diagonal, and
01:18we don't defend quite properly, well, properly enough, and unfortunately concede the goal.
01:23The pleasing thing for me after that was we didn't panic. We had a couple of chances at
01:26the other end. We had the Callum Lange penalty shout, we had the Callum Lange shot that saved
01:30really well down to the goalkeeper's right, and gave ourselves a chance. We got to regroup
01:35at half-time, and we just wanted to be a five-yard tyre. That's all we wanted. And being a five-yard
01:40tyre at the top end of the pitch made a massive difference to the back end of the pitch. It
01:44probably squeezed us another 40-yard tyre if that made sense, because we got pressure
01:47on the centre halves. There were times when Hull broke through the press, but we went
01:50again and again and again and again, and kept nicking it back. My only criticism of the team,
01:55I think, is that we need to be better in the moments when the ball does turn over and punish
01:59teams a bit more. Does it feel like a really good basis of which to build upon? It does,
02:03it does. The big message for me after the game for the lads is that we do have to take that
02:10into Tuesday, but at the same time, I think we've done that a few times this year. We've had
02:15really good bases, the likes of Sheffield United, that performance over 19 minutes was excellent,
02:19the performance against Burnley was excellent. I do think there was something a bit different
02:23about the way that we attacked Hull. I've not seen many sides do that to Hull at all this season,
02:27so I'm really, really happy with that. But the big challenge for us as a group is to make sure
02:31that we do it again on Tuesday night. As you say, Tuesday night, away trip to Plymouth. What
02:35would be your overall assessment of them as a side? I think that you've got Plymouth away from home,
02:42whose form hasn't been brilliant, and then Plymouth at home, whose form has been very good,
02:46and a side that they've got plenty of good players, I think they're really well coached
02:51and play in a decent system, and when they get going at home, they're a good side, so we've got
02:54to be really, really wary of that. I look at their home record this year, it is good. They've beaten
02:58some big sides there. I've watched a couple of the games where they've blown sides away as well,
03:01so we have to be right at it and on the front foot and make sure that we deal with all of the
03:06threats going into the game, because it is a side against a couple of sides that are down
03:10them at the bottom, but on their day, Plymouth are a really good team. Particularly considering
03:14their result on the weekend, are you expecting a reaction or a response from them on Tuesday night?
03:20Yes and no. I think regardless of the result, there would have been a different side that
03:26comes out and plays against us on Tuesday night, and I think that Plymouth set up very,
03:30very differently to what they'll do on Tuesday. There's no doubt about that,
03:34personnel and also tactics-wise, and I think Wayne wasn't shy in saying that after the game
03:41in terms of his assessment, so I almost disregard the game at the weekend. I don't think it's got
03:45any relevance to the game tomorrow night. We spoke last week about midweek away matches,
03:49trying to kind of fix the results that have been the case in those games. How do you best
03:53go about combating that? I think it's something that we just need to keep talking about and keep
03:57addressing and get the lads' thoughts on anything that we need to do differently in terms of the
04:01preparation, but ultimately it's going to be down to the boys to go out there and make sure we're
04:05switched on from the first minute and we keep ourselves in games and give ourselves a platform
04:10to work off. That was a really pleasing thing at the weekend. We gave ourselves a platform,
04:14we gave ourselves a chance and that was the most important thing. We gave ourselves a chance and
04:18then in the end we should have won the game, so it's just about doing everything we possibly can
04:23physically, which we have done since the final whistle at the weekend. We'll do again today and
04:27when we travel down again today, we'll do everything right. I get a different feeling
04:31about this game going into this one than I maybe did about the other two. A different
04:36attitude from the boys after the game and just a slightly different feeling. I can't really
04:41quantify it, but I think that's a good thing right now, but ultimately we'll see tomorrow night.
04:45Good luck, Jon. Thank you. You set up differently tactically at Hull and obviously we saw that
04:51second half. Do you get a bit of satisfaction from that as a head coach, seeing your team
04:57perform like that? Yeah, I think that certainly there's a small bit that
05:07pleases me about that, but more I think the lads took it upon themselves in those moments where
05:12we do set them up in a certain way and there are going to be times when that picture plays
05:17out perfectly in a game. That's going to be such a small percentage of the game and for the rest of
05:21the game, we're pressing from our structure, we're playing from our structure, but the lads have to
05:27make really good decisions in the moment, particularly when the game's as random as it is
05:30and when sides like Hull are as random as they are. I just thought we made so many good decisions
05:35as the game wore on in terms of when we pressed, when we sat off, when we played, when we didn't
05:39play. That was the most pleasing thing for me. It was a group that really took responsibility
05:43for the performance and ended up looking like a side that really knew what we were doing towards
05:49the back, actually for the entire second 45 minutes. Again, I keep stressing it, building
05:54off the base of a really solid first 45 without really doing anything. Yes, we conceded a goal,
06:00but that was probably all there was in the game. Obviously, you heard the boos from their supporters
06:05at the end. In the aftermath, you read the comments and they're really angry about their team,
06:10but that's credit to you guys and how you performed in that second half. Yeah, and Hull are a side
06:14that will keep playing that way and they'll keep going and keep going. What they've done
06:18at certain times this year is blown sides away because of how good they are at doing it. I know
06:23there's probably frustration from Hull fans because I thought we made it a really, really
06:27difficult game for them. Clearly, the fans were expecting something else, particularly when
06:33I suppose the side went 1-0 up at home against the bottom side of the league. We're fortunately
06:40made of, I guess, sterner stuff than what we have been at other times away from home. Having said
06:45that, I think we have gotten a goal behind in certain games and come back really well and come
06:48back really strongly, so we know we're capable of doing it. It's a nice compliment, I think,
06:53to come off the pitch and be really, really disappointed with only taking a point away at
06:57Hull. You've changed your system in the last few games as well, haven't you? Do you think
07:01your side's got that versatility? I think we do. We want to try and, at some point, end up on being
07:09settled in terms of the way that we do set up. We've done it sometimes through personnel,
07:14sometimes through necessity in terms of what we think we need to get out of games. If I take the
07:19Oxford game, for example, I thought we just needed two centre-forwards on the pitch and we ended up
07:24with three, if you count Christian, to really get a lot of pressure on Oxford's goal at home in a
07:30game that I felt we really needed to win. We've changed the system now. I thought we want to be
07:36adaptable, we want to be flexible, but also we want to get some consistency into the lads as
07:40well. So, having both those options, I think, is really useful. I think that no matter what
07:46system you play, the game becomes really random at times and we have to make sure that players
07:52in possession and out of possession recognise opportunities where there's space, where they
07:55need to press, where they don't need to press. That's the far more important thing for me.
07:58Because Saturday looked like a 4-4-2, correct me if I'm wrong.
08:02It was out of possession. We tried to have a slightly different shape in possession.
08:07To be honest, we had a couple of spells in the first half where I thought we played some really
08:10good stuff. When I watched the game back, we didn't really have a chance to play in the second
08:15half because we hardly had a goal kick. The ball was hardly in our half and when we did win the
08:21ball back, we went high up and we tried quickly to counter. That was the game, really. I thought
08:26it was quite a few goal kicks and throw-ins for Holland and us pressing and winning the ball back
08:30and sometimes doing well and sometimes not. That's the way we pressed. We are flexible in the
08:36way that we do that and we do change depending on what opposition do, but I think having that
08:41flexibility is important. The fact that two of your worst performances have been midweek this
08:46season, Stoke and especially the first half against Cardiff, is that a coincidence in
08:51midweek away games that's happened? I don't know. It's not lost on us. It's definitely not lost on
08:55us. We're not going into this game not thinking about that, but at the same time we can't dwell
09:02on it too much. It's about getting the right balance between acknowledging the fact that
09:06those two midweek games haven't been up to the standard of performance we need, but also going,
09:11well, it is completely different. The circumstances of us going into this game are different and
09:17I think once we recognise that and maybe try and improve some of the shortcomings of the other
09:23games, then I think we'll be in a good spot. I do get a very, very different feeling about this game,
09:28particularly off the back of the performance as a whole. I just felt a bit of a different mentality
09:34and attitude from the boys coming off the pitch the other day. We'll see. I think we'll see going
09:38into the game, but we're aware of it and we're just doing everything to make sure that we come off
09:42on the right side of that. Why does it feel different? Because obviously you went to Cardiff
09:47off the back of a win at QPR. Yeah, I suppose the only difference for me is that we got the equaliser
09:55at Hull and then we were properly on the front foot trying to really win the game. I'm not
10:01saying we didn't do that against QPR, but we scored quite early against QPR and then we sat in
10:05and we didn't really have a huge amount in the game after that. That's maybe a different
10:10feeling, I think. One of my worries when we equalised so early in the second half was that
10:15the message at half-time about being slightly more aggressive might have, not fallen upon
10:20deaf ears, but the lads might have thought, OK, we've got the equaliser, we'll sit off and we just
10:22didn't. We got on the front foot, kept going, kept going, kept going and I thought there was only one
10:26team that was going to win the game. I think that feeds into it, feeds into the slight difference
10:32in attitude and the way that we attack the game. How good has Callum Lund been this season?
10:37When he's scored goals and provided assists like he did the other day, he's been brilliant
10:45in terms of everybody being able to see what he's been able to do. When he hasn't scored goals and
10:49he hasn't got the assists, he gives us so much as well in terms of his energy, his athleticism,
10:54his willingness to press, the amount that he creates just off the back of being a real nuisance
11:01up top. I'm really, really pleased for Callum that he's coming to the side. Off the back of
11:07the injury, he's affected the game, he's got the goals, he's got the assists like he did the other
11:11day. He's a really important player for us and he's got to keep going and keep making sure that
11:17he improves on all the other parts of the game as well, which will make him an even better player.
11:21When you signed him in January, was it also with a view to getting to the Championship and him
11:25being an influence in the Championship as well? Yes, it was. He was a player that first and
11:29foremost we wanted to impact us in January. We thought that was the right thing to do.
11:36What we did know about Callum is having watched his time at Wigan that he could have an impact
11:40in the Championship as well and that he'd actually done really well for Spells at times.
11:45So, really, really confident that that was going to be the case. So far this season,
11:51Callum's done a fantastic job of what he's been able to do and like I said, if he doesn't score
11:56and if he doesn't get the assist, he's still really effective and he's still a great asset
12:01for us to have on the side at the minute. He's provided the numbers as well, which is brilliant.
12:04A lot of people say he's been a standout player this season. Would you agree?
12:08Yes, I think there's probably a list that's not a huge list at the moment and hopefully that grows
12:14as the season goes on. But certainly he's right up there for his age. He's been one of our best
12:19players and he's one of the first names on the team sheet at the moment. Did you think he would
12:23be as good as he has been? I knew he had the potential and the capability was there for Callum,
12:30having watched what he did with Wigan and having seen his impact on the side as soon as he came
12:35into the team last year. And when we talk about those goals and assists, the first thing he did
12:38for the football club was come on against Oxford for half an hour, scored and assisted in a massive
12:42game for us. That was a time when we were low on numbers in terms of the squad. Our form hadn't
12:49been great going into that week. It was the week where we played Fleetwood, Port Vale and Oxford
12:54away from home, I think all in 10 days. In the back end of that week, he gave us a massive boost
12:58and gave us a huge boost, I think, going into the rest of the season because of the goals and the
13:02assists that he provided. It's just keeping him fit, I suppose, isn't it? Or injury-free rather?
13:06Yeah, keeping him injury-free. He's a really, really fit lad and sometimes it's keeping him
13:12fresh as well. Keeping him fresh and making sure that we rely so heavily, I think, on his energy
13:17up front that we do give him a rest when we need to give him a rest and make sure that we keep him
13:22fresh as fresh as we can for the season. Any injury updates at all? No, so there won't be
13:27anybody returning by the time that we travel this afternoon and I think we'll have the same
13:3221-man squad to pick from as we did the weekend. Who's the 21st man?
13:37Elias, who was the one that missed out on the weekend. Thank you.