‘It makes me really angry’: Valerien Ismael slams Blackburn Rovers players following Portsmouth defeat
Callum Lang and Ibane Bowat netted in a 2-1 triumph over Blackburn Rovers on Saturday afternoon.
Valerian Ismael has been left ‘angry’ by Blackburn Rovers’ defeat against Pompey on Saturday afternoon.
Despite Yuki Ohashi opening the scoring in the first period, a spirited second-half showing from John Mousinho’s men saw them claim their first win in four games.
The triumph moves Pompey out of the relegation zone and are just two points behind 20th-placed Rovers, who are now winless in their previous five Championship matches.
Blackburn Rovers boss slams defeat against Pompey
And Ismael was far from impressed with his side’s second-half display on the south coast slamming costly mistakes
He told BBC Radio Lancashire’: ‘Especially the way we lose it. I think that when you come here, it's a tough away game. You have to be strong, the crowd is behind the players.
‘So we knew that it's a fight. I think we managed the first half well. We had some good counter situations.
‘We made it 1-0 with Yuki. I'm very pleased for him that he got the reward. We actually started the second half.
‘I think it was good in the first 10 minutes, we were really good into the game. Then we conceded the goal, the same mistake again.
‘We are not sprinting back completely on the back post. Two weeks ago, when it happened, we showed the players, we spoke with the players.
‘We showed the video and we made specific points. We said, 'Look, we have to make sure that we are coming back in full sprint to make sure we defend'. And we made the mistake again.
‘That goal affected us, you see it straight away in the performance, because the players was thinking about that.
‘So it's really annoying and it makes me really angry. Mistakes happen in football, but it's the second time or the third time, the same mistake and the same player.
‘Now we've become very angry about that. It's discipline, concentration, the basics. I spoke about it 12 times. All details count in those games.
‘So we have to defend all together. We have to attack all together. And we go for the second goal.
‘But if we have to defend, we defend. In one moment, we didn't do it and this is a big frustration.
‘We didn't win well. We didn't manage the game well.
‘We didn't defend well on the corner. It's a free header. It's another set-piece goal we conceded at the minute.
‘I think that we should have the focus now more on the different set-pieces. We have a coach now to do the job. From the moment when we conceded the goal, I think we completely lost the path in that game.
‘I think the goal affected the players mentally because they were straight away speaking about that situation when we came back in. So that is another mistake that was very painful for us.’