Portsmouth manager John Mousinho openly admitted that he must take full responsibility for his team’s humiliating defeat against Queens Park Rangers, acknowledging that the heavy loss ultimately falls on his shoulders. Reflecting on the shocking 6–1 thrashing at Loftus Road, Mousinho conceded that he had completely misjudged the situation and did not anticipate such a disastrous outcome. The result sparked visible frustration among Portsmouth supporters, many of whom directed their anger toward both the manager and the players following what was widely seen as an unacceptable performance.
Despite accepting blame, Mousinho downplayed the idea that his tactical decisions were the primary cause of the defeat. In particular, he defended his choice to deploy Ebou Adams in an advanced number 10 role, while positioning John Swift in a deeper midfield role. Mousinho explained that the team had recently struggled to convert chances into goals, even though they had been effective in building play from the back and delivering crosses into dangerous areas. By pushing Adams further forward, the intention was to add more attacking presence in the penalty box, as Adams tends to make forward runs and pose a direct goal threat rather than dropping deeper.
Nevertheless, Mousinho acknowledged that certain aspects of his team selection may have been incorrect and admitted he would need to review those decisions carefully. He suggested that even if he had swapped the midfield roles around, it likely would not have significantly altered the final scoreline. He also pointed out that the midfield trio consisted of highly experienced players who have performed at a high level throughout their careers and are capable of playing in multiple positions. Even so, he accepted that somewhere along the line, he had made mistakes, though he did not view any single decision as the obvious root cause of the collapse.
The defeat marks one of the lowest points of Mousinho’s time in charge of Portsmouth, with the team now facing the very real threat of relegation as the season enters its final stages, with only eight matches remaining. The manner of the loss was particularly alarming, as Portsmouth conceded three goals within a devastating 17-minute spell in the first half, effectively putting the game beyond reach early on. The team showed little improvement after halftime, compounding what was already a dire situation.
What made the result even more surprising for Mousinho was that, despite being on a six-match winless run, he felt the team’s overall performances in recent weeks had not been poor. In many games since the start of the year, Portsmouth had either secured victories, delivered solid displays, or narrowly missed out due to shortcomings in the final third. For that reason, he did not expect such a lifeless and disjointed performance against QPR.
Mousinho explained that the team had been set up with the belief that their approach would be sufficient to secure a win. Instead, the outcome was the complete opposite, exposing significant weaknesses on the day. He described the performance as by far the worst his side has produced in a long time and reiterated that it had caught him completely off guard. Ultimately, he concluded that the team simply performed very poorly and were deservedly punished by their opponents for their shortcomings.
