Former Premier League star’s glowing Portsmouth reference over critical Championship trait…
The former Blackburn Rovers and Birmingham City favourite has glowing praise for Pompey boss John Mousinho and the traits his side showed in reaching the Championship – and then surviving there last season.
Pompey’s relentless pressurising of opponents was key to their Championship success story last term.
Getting in the face of opponents and an appetite for graft were the building blocks on which second-tier survival was secured last term by the Blues.
That’s the view of former England, Blackburn Rovers and Birmingham City man David Dunn, who’s given a ringing endorsement of the job John Mousinho is undertaking at Fratton Park.
David Dunn feels Pompey used Colby Bishop effectively to reach the Championship. Picture: Jason Brown/ProSportsImages
Dunn praised Mousinho for not just getting the Blues into the Championship, but changing the side’s approach from the one employed by his predecessor Danny Cowley.
The man who moved into management and coaching roles with the likes of Blackpool, Barrow, Fleetwood and Port Vale after retiring from the game in 2016, saw a manager who made Pompey more expansive and afforded decent supply for striker Colby Bishop to thrive on.
It was, of course, far from plain sailing last season in the Championship, as the Blues endured a tough start to the campaign with key figures missing.
Pompey won one of their first 15 games, before a critical success over Preston on Colby Bishop’s return going into the international break.
David Dunn feels Pompey used Colby Bishop effectively to reach the Championship. Picture: Jason Brown/ProSportsImages
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That then sparked a run of 13 wins and six draws from their final 32 Championship games, which saw survival secured with two games to spare.
Dunn admitted he was fearful for Pompey after their early struggles, but lauded the qualities which turned their fortunes around.
Speaking to OLGB, Dunn said: ‘They did a really solid job there to get them up to the Championship, and changed the way they played a little bit. They played out a bit more and then kind of used the strength of Colby Bishop and players like that and got down the sides of the teams to get them promoted.
David Dunn feels Pompey used Colby Bishop effectively to reach the Championship. Picture: Jason Brown/ProSportsImages
‘They put teams under pressure. They’ve got a really good work ethic. They put teams under pressure. I think he’s done a great job keeping him in the league, to be honest.
‘Certainly, probably a quarter away through the season, maybe a bit more, a third through the season, I was looking at him thinking he could be in a little bit of trouble. But he’s put some really good runs together.’
Dunn’s assessment of Pompey’s levels of graft and determination in pressurising opponents is borne out by the statistics last season.
Passes per defensive action (PPDA) is a metric which measures a side’s press by counting the number of passes an opponent makes, before they are forced into a defensive move – like clearing the ball under pressure, for example.
David Dunn feels Pompey used Colby Bishop effectively to reach the Championship. Picture: Jason Brown/ProSportsImages
That can then be quantified with a low PPDA meaning a side are using a more intense press.
Using data from football analytics website, Wyscout, for the Championship last season show the Blues exercised the division’s second most intense press.
Pompey’s PPDA of 9.79 was bettered only by Swansea’s score of 9.79 with Leeds United third (9.93), Burnley fourth (10.42) and Derby County fifth (10.55).
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