‘It’s entirely on me’: Portsmouth boss clears keeper of blame for Millwall howler
It was one for the blooper reel for the Austrian keeper against Millwall in the Championship, but John Mousinho explains why the buck stops with him for the error - and why the Fratton Faithful were key in turning things around.
John Mousinho believes the buck stops with him for Nico Schmid’s Millwall gaffe.
And the Pompey boss thanked the Fratton Faithful for showing faith, as they displayed patience with his side’s evolving style of play in the Championship.
Mousinho: ‘The goal is one I’ll take on board - it’s entirely on me’
The Blues delivered a comeback 2-1 victory over the Londoners as they made it just a single defeat from eight Championship fixtures.
Mousinho is adapting his side’s philosophy in their third Championship campaign, from a more direct style of play employed as they looked to find their feet in the second tier.
That approach came unstuck as Schmid gifted possession to the visitors from a sixth-minute goal-kick, allowing Jenson Metcalfe to fire his side into the lead.
Mousinho explained the thinking behind his decision and the ability of his side to reap a benefit from sticking to the gameplan.
He said: ‘The goal is one I’ll take on board - it’s entirely on me.
‘If I’m asking the lads to play in that way, I think that is going to happen.
‘I think the response was very good in saying we’re not going to just keep going direct, against a Millwall side who have Crama, Cooper, Taylor and Sturge as their back four.
‘You can go direct all you want - they will eat it up.
‘It was about either playing more or going beyond, which we did for the first goal. Nico went beyond, we weren’t competing for it and got the first contact to win the free-kick.
‘So I was really pleased with that response - we didn’t go under and stuck to our guns.’
Pompey now sit seventh in the Championship when it comes to retaining possession, though Mousinho has made it clear he’s by no means 'obsessed’ with keeping the ball.
The home crowd have shown some impatience with doing so in the past, but the Blues head coach felt that certainly wasn’t the case on Saturday.
Mousinho feels that can allow Pompey to work the ball to his wide players and into areas of the pitch where his men can hurt the opposition.
He said: ‘I thought the reaction from everyone at the ground was really positive.
‘Maybe the results help, but there was no groans I heard or negativity.
‘We’re not playing out for the sake of it and I’m not obsessed with possession and 50 passes before we get over the halfway line.
‘It’s about the balance of when we look a good side.
‘We are a very different side to what we’ve been over the past couple of years.
‘I think it suits to play through the lines quickly and get the ball to our wingers on the back line.
‘Marko (Milovanovic) is a big lad up top, but a different prospect. Colby last year was one of the few strikers I’ve seen come out on top against their defence.
‘So we have to think about things differently - and I think we look a good side when we do that.’