Conor Chaplin’s return sparks Portsmouth expansive attacking away shift with eyes on Swansea City
Conor Chaplin was given a first start in a month, before Pompey’s clash with Charlton Athletic was abandoned after a home fan tragically died.
John Mousinho is prepared to employ a passing game on the road to get Pompey’s Championship season moving.
The Blues boss believes his selection shake up meant engineering an expansive shift was required, as his team’s clash with Charlton Athletic was abandoned.
Conor Chaplin return part of Pompey possession shift
Mousinho’s stance centred on restoring Conor Chaplin to his starting XI amid a surprise six changes at The Valley, as his side aimed to arrest a run of one win in nine games.
John Swift also came in for his first start since the 4-0 thrashing against Birmingham City at the start of last month, in an injection of in-possession quality to Pompey’s side.
Other Pompey changes were enforced with Ibane Bowat and Hayden Matthews replacing the injured Regan Poole and Josh Knight, with suspension keeping Andre Dozzell out while Terry Devlin returned from a one-game ban.
So Mousinho’s shake-up focussed on central areas with Marlon Pack dovetailing with Swift in the double midfield pivot, while Chaplin made his first start in a month at the expense of Segecic as the number 10.
The early results were promising with Pompey creating chances and moving the ball around decently, before the game was abandoned in the 12th minute because of a medical emergency in the home crowd. Charlton later tragically confirmed a supporter died.
The Blues have evolved in their time under Mousinho’s near three-year tenure, shifting from a possession-based game to a more high-tempo pressing approach.
But the Pompey boss is prepared to move away from that and trying to break the game up on the road, when the personnel is suited to doing so. That was certainly the case in the capital, against a Charlton side who have often favoured a similar direct approach to Pompey under Nathan Jones.
With Colby Bishop’s physicality on the bench and Callum Lang leading the line - and Josh Murphy and Min-hyeok Yang out wide - Mousinho thinks a style switch was the way to go.
He said: ‘We know we made the changes, but we made the changes bringing in the likes of Chappers.
‘Sometimes away from home we think too much about killing game’
‘We made the changes by bringing in Chappers and Swifty, in terms of the ones which weren’t enforced.
‘I think these are hugely experienced players who give us a huge amount. Chappers has got his head down, trained well, trained hard and been positive. He was good when he came on against Bristol City - and I thought he deserved to start.
‘There’s no point not (passing) if we have the players in there like that. If we have a six, eight and 10 of Marlon, Swifty and Chappers then we have to play some football.
‘If we take that physicality out up top and have Min-hyeok, Murph and Langy, it’s well worth playing some football. It’s getting the right combination, I want us to have the right combination.
‘Sometimes away from home we maybe think too much about killing the game and quietening the atmosphere, so we wanted to have a different approach.’