'Back to his best': Portsmouth boss pinpoints reason behind fading winger's brilliant return to form
The winger roared back to form against Ipswich - and Blues’ head coach knows why
John Mousinho hailed Milli Alli’s welcome return to form and admitted: The break did him good.
The Luton loanee was back to his dangerous best on Tuesday night with a sizzling display on the left wing in the crucial 2-0 success over Ipswich.
However, Mousinho identified the visit of the second-placed Tractor Boys as the ideal time to reintroduce the 26-year-old back into the starting XI in place of a ‘dead on his feet’ Keshi Anderson.
Certainly the Blues were rewarded with an impressive Alli performance reminiscent of his eye-catching early games with the club after joining in January.
‘Tuesday night he was back to his best’
Mousinho told The News: ‘His recent form was one of the reasons why we took him out of the side. We’ve had so much reliance on Milli since that Sheffield Wednesday game.
‘He came in on the Friday and went straight into the starting XI, playing every single game right up until Norwich. We’d asked so much of him, constantly, so it was nice to be able to bring him out and give him a bit of a rest.
‘He came on against Oxford, was a difference-maker there, he did well at the weekend against Middlesbrough, winning the corner the goal came from. Tuesday night he was back to his best.
‘Keshi was pretty much dead on his feet after the weekend, so we wanted to protect him injury-wise because I think he has been superb over the last two games. So protecting Keshi was a big part of it.
‘But giving Milli that break and then bringing him back in was the right thing to do. Sky Sports named him man of the match, rightly so, he was very good. He did everything he needed to do defensively very well, so was incredibly solid defensively.’
Key role in Portsmouth’s second goal
With Gustavo Caballero carrying a groin injury, Mousinho changed both of the wingers who started Saturday’s 1-0 victory at Middlesbrough.
While Alli returned to his favoured left-hand side, Adrian Segecic was recalled on the right and provided the corner which was headed home by Conor Shaughnessy for Pompey’s opening goal.
Alli was then involved in the build-up to the second, producing work down the left before pulling the ball back for Andre Dozzell to hit a first-team cross into the box which was eventually netted by Colby Bishop.
And with Leicester visiting Fratton Park on Saturday, the Luton man will again be encouraged to wreak havoc.
‘He looked a proper threat’
Pompey’s head coach added: ‘Probably what has been missing over the past few weeks are those moments of magic.
‘Early on he took on Darnell Furlong and dragged him back - I thought straight away “Milli is at it”. Then he had the shot which was tipped over and set up the second goal. He looked a proper threat.
‘There have been times during that run when the ball has gone under his foot, he has tried to check inside and it hasn’t quite come off.
‘You still got those moments in the second half because we’re asking him to constantly go at the full-back, there are going to be times when he gets dispossessed. But we only need him to get it right once or twice in the game.
‘Against Ipswich he did that, more than once, and that’s why he played so well.’