After announcing three new signings last week - plus Marlon Pack’s contract renewal - the Blues started July by welcoming another new addition to the fold.
Middlesbrough winger Sammy Silvera has arrived on a season-long to bolster Pompey’s attacking options ahead of their Championship return. The Australia international is highly-rated at the Riverside Stadium. But with competition for places at Boro set to intensify this season, the decision to grant the 23-year-old a loan move to aid his development was sanctioned.
Pompey will hope to maximise Silvera’s obvious potential at Fratton Park - something they’ve mastered in recent seasons with the likes of Abu Kamara, Alex Robertson and Di’Shon Bernard during their PO4 loans.
But what exactly will Kusini Yengi’s Socceroos team-mate bring to the table at Fratton Park? How will he fit into John Mousinho’s system? And what’s going to get supporters off their seats when he’s on the ball?
Well, once again, we’ve enlisted the help of PFSA Level 2 technical scout & performance analyst - plus social media influencer and Pompey fan - @SonStats to find out. Here’s his breakdown of the exciting 23-year-old’s game.
9. Tactics 1
Silvera would be better utilised in the left half-space in a hybrid 2–4–4/4–2–5 structure from goal-kicks. This would help get the best of players such as McIntyre and Sparkes on this side of the pitch. I can’t see us occurring too many problems when playing out down our right-hand side with players such as Poole, Lane and our advanced eight (Robertson if he was to sign or Moxon) all technically secure on the ball. I do believe, however, that more fluid patterns are needed on our left-hand side and the personnel in this team could help with that. | @Sonstats
10. Tactics 2
The angles would suit McIntyre a lot more with him being a natural left-footer and he’s very capable of playing passes through lines of pressure. Silvera should drop deep to receive from McIntyre which would drag the opposition right centre-back along with him. Pack should look to create some separation from his marker as he receives from Silvera before placing a through ball to Sparkes who runs into the space behind the right centre-back. | @Sonstats
11. Tactics 3
One thing I mentioned about Silvera was his ability to run into channels. This can be maximised from our building phase. We’d need an advanced eight with brilliant passing range and vision to pick him out hence why I’ve gone with Alex Robertson as an example. Callum Lang would move slightly inwards to give Robertson more space and vision to pick out the pass, Silvera would then run into the channel between the right centre-back and the central centre-back. | @Sonstats
12. Tactics 4
It’s in the final-third, however, where we could see the true benefits of this tactical line-up. There are a lot of lines drawn to demonstrate so I’ll try to keep this brief. Silvera is more suited to playing in the left half-space with an attacking left-back pushing high and wide hence why Jack Sparkes has been included. He’s tasked with providing the width on the left-hand side and can support Silvera with overlapping runs. Colby Bishop can also link up with the Australian if space in the centre of the pitch is limited, by dropping deep to receive before flicking it onto the incoming left-winger who makes the run on the right-back’s blindside causing confusion in the defence. | @SonStats