Portsmouth boss' message over Crewe's 70 per cent possession stats and side's counter-attacking approach

The Blues solidified their promotion charge as they moved up to fourth in the League One table, with a comprehensive 4-1 victory over the in-form Railwaymen.

Two goals in each half did the damage as Pompey pressed and took advantage of mistakes at the back from the visitors.

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But it was the manner in which Jackett’s side repelled Crewe’s attacks before countering at pace and with real threat which did the damage.

David Artell’s side had 70 per cent possession, looked easy on the eye and did create chances, particularly in the first half.

But Pompey showed how they could turn defence into attack so ruthlessly - and in devastating fashion.

And if that comes with his side’s numbers down in the possession column, Jackett won’t be losing too much sleep about that.

He said: ‘In the future there will be a better breakdown which will give you more of a reflection.

‘Does possession in your own half help you? If you have possession in your own half is it a reflection of the game? Not necessarily.

‘Possession needs a breakdown of your half and the opposition’s half.

‘We wanted to keep the ball better than we did, but when the spaces are there it’s worth the risk because if you get a couple of passes right it’s a goal for you.

‘That’s the beauty of football.

‘In terms of formation we do feel we have the players to do that, if we can get them away with one or two passes.

‘You can’t get in with one pass all the time, but if you can combine early like we did there’s spaces before they recover.

‘Sometimes we didn’t and it could’ve been better, but, similarly, we created a lot of chances and could’ve scored a lot of goals. That’s the balance.

‘We’d want to keep the ball better if we can, but we also don’t want to waste opportunities where one or two passes gets you in on goal. That’s the balance really.

‘For the good teams there’s a middle ground, and that’s what we need to find over the course of the season.’

Crewe arrived at Fratton Park off the back of three wins in four, including a 2-0 victory over Peterborough.

That underlined the task Pompey faced, against a side who’ve picked up a reputation for playing out from the back on the way to League One promotion.

Jackett felt the test the Artell’s side posed shouldn’t be underestimated - but the Blues handled the challenge well.

He added: ‘Crewe are a good side and this was no easy game.

‘We had to be at our best, concentrate and make the right decisions on and off the ball.

‘But we’ve scored a good number of goals this season.

‘From our view, we knew Crewe would be open but we knew they are a good side.

‘There were key moments and we defended our box well in terms of headers out in the opening period, when they had a number of set-pieces.

‘They are a passing side but they had a number of set-pieces, but our defending helped us get through it.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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