Portsmouth told what they are lacking under John Mousinho - "We need to see something different" | OneFootball

Portsmouth have had a poor start to the new season, but FLW's Pompey fan pundit believes that his team can turn things around.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Portsmouth have had a difficult start to the new season, and the biggest issue they have maybe a lack of identity.

With just one win in their last ten Championship matches, Portsmouth have had a tough start to the new season, and manager John Mousinho is starting to feel the heat from this.

A goalless draw against Wrexham in their midweek fixture left Pompey in 20th place in the table, and although they're five points above the relegation places at present, there has been little evidence in recent weeks that things are about to improve.

Mousinho is now two years into his first managerial position, and the results so far have been impressive. He took Portsmouth to the League One title in 2024 and to 16th place in the Championship last season, five points clear of the relegation places.

But given the poor form they've shown over the last couple of months, there is a growing feeling of discontentment around Fratton Park at the moment.

"We need to get better" - Portsmouth warned about playing style which is costing them points

With all of this in mind, Football League World have spoken to our Portsmouth fan pundit Miltos Ioannidis, about what he thinks is going wrong with the team at present. "First of all," he told us, "I don't think we will be relegated, but I think the way that we have been playing over the past few games especially, has been nothing short of poor. Our performances have been bad, have been dire, we look nothing like the side we were accustomed to last season, for instance, with our high pressing, attacking brand of football. We look nothing like the side we once used to be, and that's down to a number of factors."

Miltos believes that injury problems is one of these factors, but that there is a more fundamental problem with what Portsmouth are trying to do on the pitch this season: "Personnel is one of those factors. I think the absence of a number of key players of these last few games, most notably Josh Murphy, Callum Lang and Adrian Segecic, this definitely had to play a part. But I think that even with these absentees, we still fill the gaps with that, in my eyes at least, you expect a lot more from. And I think what we're lacking at the minute is the energy, the intensity, and above all we lack identity."

Miltos feels very strongly that while Portsmouth started this season reasonably well, performances of late have not been up to scratch: "Someone used to think of Pompey, and they had us so accustomed to a certain way of playing, we had a distinct style that we could accommodate and play, especially at home. We started the season off quite decent, especially away from home. We managed to pick up some very decent results against good opposition. But our performances have been very bad for a while now, and this especially this translates at home, where our form has been nothing like it was in the last campaign."

He feels that Portsmouth have lost something from the way that they've played over the previous two seasons under Mousinho: "We used to really attack home games, stamp our authority on home games, and we haven't done that at all this season. And we need to get our identity back. We need to revert back to something that works for us. I think what we've tried this season has been a mixture of what we had in John Mousinho's first two seasons, when we won League One, where yes, there were elements of our playing style from last season, with high pressing, with intensity, with all this kind of stuff. We're probably a bit more possession-themed and possession-based, at least compared to last season."

While there are players that have left the club that could be making this difference, Miltos feels that Portsmouth have to get on and get back to where they were, style-wise: "I think we've partly tried to go back to that, but it clearly hasn't worked out, and my biggest concern is that even if we try to go back to what we had last season, I'm not sure we can right now with the players we've got available, because even people like Matt Ritchie, for example, who left on a free, he was very important, but I don't want to make this about Matt Ritchie now, I want to speak about Pompey now, and Pompey now needs a change to the way that we play, because if we continue to play like this, yes we will be at serious risk."

But for all this, he does believe that their current manager is the man for the job, not least because he managed to turn things around for them last season: "I think John Mousinho will turn it around. I think he's the right man to take us forward. Will he naturally be at any risk right now? Yes, of course he will. But I think that he will find a way just like he did last season. We started last season way worse than this season and believe it was after a game against Cardiff away, when we lost 2-0, where he said, 'Okay look, the way we're playing right now, it's clearly not working', and that was when we reverted to the then-famous high-pressing, attacking brand of football what we were distinct for and which won us a lot of games, especially on home soil."

And Miltos warned that Portsmouth fans needed to see something solid from their home match against Wrexham last night: "So, we need to see a change in our playing style, otherwise relegation fears will get more real. I think you're looking at the man for the job, but we need to see change now. Starting from Wrexham on Wednesday, we need to see something different, because this is a team that just has no distinct style. You see them on the pitch, and they look like randoms, like complete strangers. It's not a good look."

But while there are obvious concerns at results at the moment, Miltos does feel that Portsmouth will be okay in the end: "You want to get the team back playing together again, because I feel like we've got a decent enough side to compete at this level, but we've got to find a way again to do so, starting with Wrexham. We need to be more tenacious, harder to beat. I feel like we're being too nice to teams defensively. Set pieces, we need to get better at those. Conclusion: we need to get better, and I think at the end of the day, we'll be fine."

For now, there remain three worse teams in the Championship than Portsmouth

Whether Miltos got his wish from the Wrexham match is open to question. Portsmouth certainly put in a more intense performance, with 19 attempts on goal - 7 of which were on target - and an xG of 1.49, but they couldn't break down an obdurate Wrexham defence and the match ended in a goalless draw.

This highlights an issue that has been clear throughout the first third of this season for them. Portsmouth have only scored more than one goal in one of their 14 League games so far this season, and they've now failed to score in any of their last three.

Following Sheffield Wednesday's 1-1 draw with Norwich that was being played at the same time, Pompey are now the lowest scoring team in the entire Championship, with just ten goals scored in the League so far.

As a winger, a forward and an attacking midfielder, respectively, there's little question that the absences of Josh Murphy, Calum Lang and Adrian Segecic will have made a difference to the team's attacking fortunes. Of those three, only Murphy played against Wrexham.

Furthermore, while there are good reasons to be alarmed about Portsmouth's slump over the last couple of months, there does still remain a gap between them and the division's bottom three.

Sheffield Wednesday are so far adrift at the bottom of the table that their relegation is already being talked of as inevitable, while Sheffield United's post-Chris Wilder return bounce has ended with three straight defeats and Norwich have no wins since the end of August and have lost every home match they've played so far. There's no need to hit the panic button just yet.

At present, there are three worse teams in the Championship, but that may not be the case for much longer. Sheffield United will likely be heavily active in the January transfer window, while Wednesday may be under new ownership themselves by then.

And while Liam Manning is currently having a wretched time as the Norwich manager, the likelihood is that things will change at Carrow Road in the next few days or weeks should they not improve.

But in a results-based business, John Mousinho will remain under pressure until his team starts scoring goals. The intensity of the previous couple of season needs to return. At least one Portsmouth fan has faith that it can, under their current manager.