Portsmouth boss' admission over John Swift's best role after ex-West Brom man's surprise positional switch
As an attacking midfielder, Swift scored 19 goals in 126 appearances for West Brom
John Mousinho admits John Swift isn’t currently being employed in his most effective position for the Blues.
Nonetheless, the summer signing has impressed the head coach as a deep-lying central midfielder following Pompey’s pre-season ‘experiment’.
Certainly West Brom fans will be surprised to see their former player return to the Hawthorns on Saturday (3pm) not utilised in his usual attacking role.
During a three-year stay consisting of 126 appearances, Swift never once featured as a defensive midfielder for the Baggies as he registered 19 goals.
Yet with Marlon Pack injured and newcomer Luke Le Roux still adjusting, it is a case of needs must for Swift, who has operated as the six behind Andre Dozzell in the opening two Championship matches.
Portsmouth boss: ‘It’s the way we are managing the squad’
Mousinho told The News: ‘It is something we experimented a bit with during pre-season and we have obviously now gone into the season with that system. To be honest, our performance over the two games has been positive in terms of us as a team as a whole and also positive from John.
‘I still think his position is probably better as a 10 or as that left-sided eight. It’s just that, at the minute, it’s the way we are managing the squad.
‘Marlon is obviously out, he had an excellent pre-season so to lose him just before that first game was a big blow, while we’re giving Luke (Le Roux) a bit of time to make sure he can settle.
‘The six is actually Luke’s position, we have spoken about how he came in late and he is pretty close now to being in contention for a start.
‘I think, at the moment, this is a pretty good solution. John and Doz have similar attributes in terms of being able to do that, but we quite like Doz in the left-sided spot.
‘But John brings a lot of quality, a lot of calmness, he’s got the ability to break lines with his passing and you saw in the second half against Norwich that, when he does get going, he starts to dictate the game.
‘He can switch the ball very well, keeps the tempo ticking over very nicely and provides a goal-threat as well. There are a lot of good attributes we've seen from John over the last few games.’
With 61 career goals, Swift also possesses the talent to get on the scoresheet - and came agonisingly close to doing so against Norwich.
With Pompey trailing 2-1 heading into stoppage time, the former Chelsea man controlled the ball on his chest and struck a sweet right-footed volley from outside the box which crashed against the crossbar.
And Mousinho believes it offered a glimpse of what Swift can achieve higher up the pitch.
‘Inches away from us getting a point’
He added: ‘That is something John has done very well at throughout his career.
‘He’s got a lot of goals in the Championship and, if you look at his goal-scoring record through the years, he has always managed to pick up a fair few from that midfield position. So it’s something we really want to encourage.
‘Even if he’s playing from that deeper position, he’s got a very, very good strike, as we saw at the weekend when he was a couple of inches away from getting us a point.’
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