Wasn't expecting that performance and would have been happy with a point before the game.
That now has to be the minimum level of performance and effort going forwards. Every player was solid and we were good both with and without the ball. Will be interesting to see if this is a proper shift in direction or one-off, roll-on Saturday to find out.......
Having a settled team makes so much difference. Can see partnerships strengthening game after game. Dobson and Fraser, Inniss and O’Connell, Egbo and JRS. Will now live in constant fear of an injury to a CB or CM as I think losing any of those 4 would be very damaging. Just got to keep players fit and stay within touching distance of the play offs for January
I enjoy playing Pompey not just because we get a result more often than not, but the atmosphere is better and the players definitely raised their game last night. Can't fault them- no one was hiding and you can see the improvement in confidence. Let's hope it gets carried on to Shrewsbury away which will be an entirely different challenge
Loved the attempts from CBT and JRS that forced good saves from the Portsmouth keeper.
Really liked this as well. JRS in particular needs to learn he will score/assist more goals by shooting earlier than trying to beat his man 12 times before he attempts a shot/cross.
- Fraser keeps the ball for us at times when over the years we just gladly surrender possession. His signing was timed when TS seemed more interested/had some form of a plan before the ditching of everything to break even.
- I didn't think Egbo had a particularly good game yesterday (for him) but maybe that's due to the standards he has set. It's great having a natural RB at RB. Clare had a mare with his passing in his cameo!
- So glad we did not have to see players from the past who look like they are ready to make a mistake and gift a goal to the opposition in Matthews/Gunter/Famewo/Watson/Arter/McG/etc
Stockley - We've always moaned that players manage to get into the referee's ear to get our players a booking/red card and Stockley did an excellent job as captain reminding the ref that Pack was already on a yellow and how can he stay on the pitch. If he hadn't of done so, nobody was putting any reasonable pressure on the referee to make a decision. He is going to start every game, so lets hope he manages a goal or two soon to boost his prowess inside the box as it's missing at the moment.
They showed before the game on sky that we conceded 6 goals from crosses the most in league one, It looked like it was going be 7 but outstanding save from Wollacott apart from that thought our back 4 was consistent and solid throughout.
Team worked exceptionally hard out of possession with few moments of quality in possession, it wasn't the prettiest in terms of possession was bit rushed but on the transition we looked dangerous, I always feel that we look more threatening when countering rather then slow ponderous build up play and last night proved it.
For me I think it benefits the likes of CBT starting a bit deeper as it gives him more space to run into, the only thing I like the widemen to do is when they cut in can they find that extra pass work it into the box rather then try score from 20 yards each time.
I think I’m still pissed from Saturday cos I didn’t think Kirk was any good, better than previous nut that’s not much , slide rule pass to CBT apart I thought he did his usual nothingness…
Great result and a good display however Kirk did very little and apart from one shot that stung the keeper hands neither did Rak Saki. Just goes to show how dominant we were with two passengers in our team.
Great result and to be fair i thought pompey played their part, despite some people thinking they were poor. Lots of tackles and niggles all round just like football used to be. Just wish we could play the same style away from home.
The thing that I love about Charlie Kirk is he very rarely wastes the ball. Just wish we could get it to his feet more, he creates at least one great chance every time he plays.
I think I’m still pissed from Saturday cos I didn’t think Kirk was any good, better than previous nut that’s not much , slide rule pass to CBT apart I thought he did his usual nothingness…
I didn't think Kirk overall was that great either. One great assist, but a lot of the time he struggled to get into the game
Lots of comments about Fraser 'getting stuck in' and quite right too, but what really impressed me though was his passing. Absolute mustard.
I think the reason Fraser is getting so much praise for getting stuck in, is that we weren't sure he could do it very well. We knew he was a good passer and nice on the ball, so it's less of a surprise.
If only we could play all of our games midweek at home - we would smash the league 100+ goal difference!
With all the stuff going on with TS - Well done Garner, for getting the team playing again. Fraser and Dobson are a very good partnership at this level. We are certainly looking up now, and long may it continue.
Kirk had a great assist and played a number of excellent crosses into the box, but most impressive for me was the workrate - still absolutely belting it down the pitch to put pressure on right at the very end of the 90. Credit to him and to Garner for getting that out of him.
The thing that I love about Charlie Kirk is he very rarely wastes the ball. Just wish we could get it to his feet more, he creates at least one great chance every time he plays.
True but he still needs to be braver and take more risks. The kind of player you want to put on a huge performance related pay scheme if they get to say 8 goals.
Maybe we are in the process of learning to take the rough with the smooth as they are both as strong as the other.
Minor point….we still have not scored from a corner this season despite TV commentary suggesting otherwise. The goal was from open play……take another look.
Minor point….we still have not scored from a corner this season despite TV commentary suggesting otherwise. The goal was from open play……take another look.
yes, very minor. Technically you're right of course
That was a great night to be at the Valley. Just like the good old days. Two proper teams. Lots of noise. Pity about the Pompey kit but they can't expect to win a football match dressed in luminous pastel-puke green.
As many have said, a determined team performance but the two centre-backs won that game for us. For all the praise of Kirk and Stockley, who both played well, neither looked remotely like scoring at any stage.
O'Connell has received a lots of stick since joining but he and Inniss was were almost faultless last night, kept a clean sheet and contributed two goals.
The thing that I love about Charlie Kirk is he very rarely wastes the ball. Just wish we could get it to his feet more, he creates at least one great chance every time he plays.
I’m not convinced the experiment with him fully worked, last night, but I’ve long felt I’d like to see him play more centrally and I’d give him another game or two there to find his feet.
Out wide it’s very predictable, cut back on right foot, cross or 5 yard slide pass. He hasn’t the pace to get outside on the touchline. If he get in that pocket centrally he’s got a good first touch and weight of pass and could prove an excellent supplier in that sense.
Great game to be at. Even though the number of home fans was disappointing the atmosphere was still good, thanks in a large part to the excellent Pompey support. Great to see a game where the whole team play well, and for the whole game too. The defence looked very solid across the entire back four. However, the central midfield pairing of Dobson and Fraser were just immense, and won everything. Two great assists by Fraser, and what a pass by Charlie Kirk! Kirk seemed to thrive in the number 10 role. Well done to Ben Garner for being brave enough to stick to 4-4-2 without Leaburn, and decide to play Kirk up front. This may have taken a considerable amount of pressure off our striker problem, although Kirk and Stockley need to find their goal scoring boots asap. Great game from CBT too. He terrorised Pompey all evening. When he was through on goal I felt sure he would miss, so great to see him slot it away. He deserved that goal.
Pretty obvious we need to start improving our away form
Strange that because i'm fairly sure Swindon under Garner had the reverse fortunes. Great on the road but couldn't win at home
We are a very different team to Swindon. You look at the players they had last season and for all their faults, they were league 2 players, they were mainly technically very good. The likes of Read, Payne, Barry, Williams are all very technical and probably much better at that side of the game than most of our players, when you compare them to the opposition.
Our team are much more athletic, most of our goals come from us being a bit more direct (not to be confused with hoof ball). If we can do that away from home, where intuitively it should be easier, we will start to win away.
The thing that I love about Charlie Kirk is he very rarely wastes the ball. Just wish we could get it to his feet more, he creates at least one great chance every time he plays.
I’m not convinced the experiment with him fully worked, last night, but I’ve long felt I’d like to see him play more centrally and I’d give him another game or two there to find his feet.
Out wide it’s very predictable, cut back on right foot, cross or 5 yard slide pass. He hasn’t the pace to get outside on the touchline. If he get in that pocket centrally he’s got a good first touch and weight of pass and could prove an excellent supplier in that sense.
I think it was more a necessity than an experiment. CBT or JRS would not have done any better up top. In fact, they might have played like headless chickens with their back often to goal as it's not their style.
The whole team played so well. Pick for me were the two CBs, Innis was utterly dominant and that was O'Connell's best game for us. Both scoring was great to see but their defensive work was excellent.
Then the two CMs were superb, Fraser just never gives it away and Dobson does the work of 2-3 players. Dobson certainly will go on to the Championship comfortably.
Outside of those 4 though our full backs just did their jobs brilliantly and bring so much balance from the start of the season when they were missing. CBT played his best game of the season. Kirk really put so much more effort in and looked good on the ball and whilst Stockley didn't score or assist (I think), he ran himself into the ground working so,.so hard for the team with the high press.
Wolacott didn't really have a chance to impress, so dominant was our defence but did what he did well. Rak Saki probably the one who didn't perform to his best. Still decent and runs well but needs to improve his decision making (no surprise given his age).
Thought Mingi looked very good when he came on for them, kind of glided over the surface with speed and could run with the ball every well. Good for him for finding his way after being released by us.
Our 14th game of last season was the 1-0 win up at Sunderland. At the time, that result felt huge.
This one feels even more important when I look at the upcoming fixtures between now and Christmas. We have the perfect chance to really kick on. Get the away form sorted and we’ll be top six sooner rather than later,
Shrews, MK, Ipswich, Burton, Port Vale, Cheltenham, Morecambe, Bristol Rovers between now and 25th Dec.
I thought we were slow to get into the game and for the first period, were probably slightly second best. I said to my mate after about 15 mins, that Dobson had hardly touched the ball. No sooner did I say that, he got a foot in and then followed up with another nice bit of tidy up play. We grew into the game from that moment and apart from a period after our 3rd goal, never let up.
With regard to formations; I've never really been a fan of three man midfields and only one striker. I've always had a feeling that it somehow allows the players to think they don't have to cover as much ground and therefore they might subconsciously not work as hard. Last night was a classic case; as soon Dobson and Fraser started to work really hard off the ball, then things broke for them and they could start to play. Our two strikers did a good job closing down and forced Portsmouth into playing a few long balls, which were dealt with by our defence.
I like Sessegnon's positional play. I think we have to accept that he won't be a great attacking force but in the same manner as Mark Bowen, he can defend properly by using positional nous and keep it neat while in possession. Egbo has more to offer in an attacking sense and I like his defending too. He didn't have a great game last night and looked a tad lazy in the 2nd half but the coaches will remind him of that because he's set a high standard. On the whole though, he has an assured presence and that back four & keeper look like they work well together.
CBT was everything we hoped for. Pace, power and end product. 100% correct right to sub him off as he neared the danger-zone for injury. Likewise, correct to sub off Stockley at that time. The game was won, he'd done a lot of running and if he takes an injury, we don't have a starting centre-forward. Stockley has to start every game and take the brunt before Aneke can be unleashed.
He was last night and also in recent matches, Scott is looking like the guy who was so good at the valley for MK Dons but unfortunately for Jackson he never had this match fit Fraser available last season.
Comments
Let's hope it gets carried on to Shrewsbury away which will be an entirely different challenge
Really liked this as well. JRS in particular needs to learn he will score/assist more goals by shooting earlier than trying to beat his man 12 times before he attempts a shot/cross.
- Fraser keeps the ball for us at times when over the years we just gladly surrender possession. His signing was timed when TS seemed more interested/had some form of a plan before the ditching of everything to break even.
- I didn't think Egbo had a particularly good game yesterday (for him) but maybe that's due to the standards he has set. It's great having a natural RB at RB. Clare had a mare with his passing in his cameo!
- So glad we did not have to see players from the past who look like they are ready to make a mistake and gift a goal to the opposition in Matthews/Gunter/Famewo/Watson/Arter/McG/etc
Stockley - We've always moaned that players manage to get into the referee's ear to get our players a booking/red card and Stockley did an excellent job as captain reminding the ref that Pack was already on a yellow and how can he stay on the pitch. If he hadn't of done so, nobody was putting any reasonable pressure on the referee to make a decision. He is going to start every game, so lets hope he manages a goal or two soon to boost his prowess inside the box as it's missing at the moment.
Team worked exceptionally hard out of possession with few moments of quality in possession, it wasn't the prettiest in terms of possession was bit rushed but on the transition we looked dangerous, I always feel that we look more threatening when countering rather then slow ponderous build up play and last night proved it.
For me I think it benefits the likes of CBT starting a bit deeper as it gives him more space to run into, the only thing I like the widemen to do is when they cut in can they find that extra pass work it into the box rather then try score from 20 yards each time.
With all the stuff going on with TS - Well done Garner, for getting the team playing again. Fraser and Dobson are a very good partnership at this level. We are certainly looking up now, and long may it continue.
Maybe we are in the process of learning to take the rough with the smooth as they are both as strong as the other.
The goal was from open play……take another look.
That was a great night to be at the Valley. Just like the good old days. Two proper teams. Lots of noise. Pity about the Pompey kit but they can't expect to win a football match dressed in luminous pastel-puke green.
As many have said, a determined team performance but the two centre-backs won that game for us. For all the praise of Kirk and Stockley, who both played well, neither looked remotely like scoring at any stage.
O'Connell has received a lots of stick since joining but he and Inniss was were almost faultless last night, kept a clean sheet and contributed two goals.
You can't ask for much more than that.
Our team are much more athletic, most of our goals come from us being a bit more direct (not to be confused with hoof ball). If we can do that away from home, where intuitively it should be easier, we will start to win away.
Then the two CMs were superb, Fraser just never gives it away and Dobson does the work of 2-3 players. Dobson certainly will go on to the Championship comfortably.
Outside of those 4 though our full backs just did their jobs brilliantly and bring so much balance from the start of the season when they were missing. CBT played his best game of the season. Kirk really put so much more effort in and looked good on the ball and whilst Stockley didn't score or assist (I think), he ran himself into the ground working so,.so hard for the team with the high press.
Wolacott didn't really have a chance to impress, so dominant was our defence but did what he did well. Rak Saki probably the one who didn't perform to his best. Still decent and runs well but needs to improve his decision making (no surprise given his age).
Thought Mingi looked very good when he came on for them, kind of glided over the surface with speed and could run with the ball every well. Good for him for finding his way after being released by us.
This one feels even more important when I look at the upcoming fixtures between now and Christmas. We have the perfect chance to really kick on. Get the away form sorted and we’ll be top six sooner rather than later,
Shrews, MK, Ipswich, Burton, Port Vale, Cheltenham, Morecambe, Bristol Rovers between now and 25th Dec.
With regard to formations; I've never really been a fan of three man midfields and only one striker. I've always had a feeling that it somehow allows the players to think they don't have to cover as much ground and therefore they might subconsciously not work as hard. Last night was a classic case; as soon Dobson and Fraser started to work really hard off the ball, then things broke for them and they could start to play. Our two strikers did a good job closing down and forced Portsmouth into playing a few long balls, which were dealt with by our defence.
I like Sessegnon's positional play. I think we have to accept that he won't be a great attacking force but in the same manner as Mark Bowen, he can defend properly by using positional nous and keep it neat while in possession. Egbo has more to offer in an attacking sense and I like his defending too. He didn't have a great game last night and looked a tad lazy in the 2nd half but the coaches will remind him of that because he's set a high standard. On the whole though, he has an assured presence and that back four & keeper look like they work well together.
CBT was everything we hoped for. Pace, power and end product. 100% correct right to sub him off as he neared the danger-zone for injury. Likewise, correct to sub off Stockley at that time. The game was won, he'd done a lot of running and if he takes an injury, we don't have a starting centre-forward. Stockley has to start every game and take the brunt before Aneke can be unleashed.
He was last night and also in recent matches, Scott is looking like the guy who was so good at the valley for MK Dons but unfortunately for Jackson he never had this match fit Fraser available last season.