A honest assessment from the Pompey midfielder, who’s relived the challenges he encountered after his Fratton homecoming last year.
John Swift has admitted he needs to eradicate costly errors to kickstart his Pompey career.
John Swift.placeholder image
John Swift. | Habibur Rahman
Swift held his hands up to getting ‘caught out’, as he tried to impact games, when being tasked with operating from a deep-lying midfield position for John Mousinho’s side last term.
The 31-year-old has spent his career unlocking Championship defences, with the former Chelsea prodigy clocking up more than 400 appearances in spells with the likes of Reading and West Brom.
The Gosport lad’s return to PO4 was given a big fanfare 12 months ago, but it’s not been all plain sailing with Swift feeling the pain of those mistakes - which he insisted will be put right moving forward for Pompey.
Swift said: ‘I think I can definitely have done more last season, especially when I was playing in a deeper position.
‘I was trying to affect the game from a deeper position, probably a bit more than I needed to.
‘From a higher position you can probably affect the game and play the sort of passes I’m used to playing.
‘When you drop a bit deeper you maybe have to be a bit more conservative on the ball, maybe play passes that aren’t so risky.
‘I think maybe I got caught out a few times last season in the deeper role, playing passes which got us into a bit of trouble.
‘Obviously if I find myself in those positions this season that will be something I try to take care of.
‘Every player who loses the ball, that first five or 10 seconds you’re thinking please don’t score. It happened a few times last season where I lost the ball.
‘It felt like why is it when I lose the ball or make a bad pass, they seem to go bang, bang, bang and the ball is in the back of our net?
‘Of course you feel it when it happens, but if you make a mistake in one game you can then play Tuesday, pick out a pass and we end up winning. The Championship is good for that.
John Swift, left, celebrates scoring in Pompey's 3-1 win at Millwallplaceholder image
John Swift, left, celebrates scoring in Pompey's 3-1 win at Millwall | Stephen Flynn
‘So it’s something I think about and will try to work on a bit deeper. I’ll be trying to correct that next season.’
That was seen clearly in the big back-to-back wins on the road at Millwall and Charlton Athletic in February, where Swift’s craft was on display.
It was when playing as a double midfield pivot the ‘sloppy’ mistakes surfaced, however, which will need to be remedied as the former England under-21 international looks forwards.
Swift added: ‘Everyone makes mistakes in a game, it’s just part and parcel of football.
‘But if it’s making a mistake, then make a mistake trying to do the right thing and don’t be sloppy.
‘If you do make a mistake then you need to help the team recover and make up for that mistake - or ultimately don’t make the mistake in the first place!’
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