'Definitely a throwback': Portsmouth boss John Mousinho on what makes ex-Derby man Ebou Adams so special
The transfer window signing has scored twice in seven appearances signing joining from Pride Park
He’s a ‘throwback’ to the footballing past - yet pivotal to Pompey’s Championship future.
And John Mousinho is convinced the outstanding Ebou Adams’ traditional midfield skill set is proving to be priceless in the battle against the drop.
Just seven games and two goals into his Fratton Park career, the former Cardiff man has swiftly established himself as the driving force behind Pompey's latest attempts to avoid a return to League One.
Recruited from Derby last month for a bargain £500,000, the 30-year-old has proven himself to be so much more than a defensive midfielder.
Indeed, Mousinho likens the 30-year-old to a box-to-box player from yesteryear, in days of 4-4-2 systems and fielding two central midfielders.
And the Blues’ head coach has pinpointed Adams’ ‘all-round’ talents as crucial in the fight to remain in the Championship.
‘He’s pretty much an all-round midfielder’
Mousinho told The News: ‘Ebou’s got a bit of everything. First and foremost, he has a huge amount of energy, he’s very combative.
‘He's also very good on the ball when you need him to drop in and move the ball simply, to move the ball quickly. He has actually really impressed me in that phase as well. He’s pretty much an all-round midfielder.
‘Ebou’s something of a throwback, more of a traditional box-to-box player in a midfield two in a 4-4-2 from back in the day. He can give both that attacking input and also the defensive solidity.
‘At times in the first half at Charlton, he was relentlessly tracking those forward runs from Sonny Carey. Then you fast forward to the second half, where he bursts into the box and nearly gets a penalty. He has both sides of the game.
‘Our intention was always to play him a bit higher up, either as an eight or as a 10, and have Marlon, Andre Dozzell or Luke (Le Roux) playing as a six.
‘He can do the 10 as well because he gets close to the centre-forward, he gets close to Colby, and can make those runs.
‘Look at the way we played on Tuesday night, Swifty was that 10, but you could class him as an eight, we are not rigid in terms of what we set out formation-wise, we want a lot of fluidity. We saw that a lot in the first half as well.
‘Ebou can actually cover any of those positions, but we like him higher up the pitch.’
Rising from non-league Ebbsfleet
Adams was plucked from non-league Ebbsfleet for an undisclosed fee in June 2019 by Rich Hughes, then head of recruitment at League Two Forest Green.
The 23-year-old had featured 37 times in the National League the previous season, helping them claim eighth spot and narrowly miss out on the play-offs.
Now, six-and-a-half years later, Adams is an experienced Championship performer with Pompey, Derby and Cardiff, as well as an international footballer with Gambia.
Mousinho added: ‘I suppose it’s a change in the way things have gone tactically over the last 20 years.
‘When I first started playing, everybody played 4-4-2 with two central midfielders. If the ball was on the left-hand side, the right central midfielder would go and join the box and work in tandem. We never really had that six and two eights, which have since come into the game.
‘From my perspective, you start to have that defensive midfielder and maybe somebody slightly more attacking. Ebu is definitely a throwback to the old central midfielder who can do both.’