In his evaluation of Chelsea’s young talent making his long-awaited debut for Portsmouth after a year, John Mousinho sees positive signs of progress and careful development for Tino Anjorin.
For Tino Anjorin, this marked a significant milestone in his Portsmouth journey, as he successfully overcame another obstacle wearing their colors.
John Mousinho, aiming to gradually integrate the Chelsea loanee into the first team, expressed satisfaction with Anjorin’s development.
The opportunity to start for the Blues finally came for the 21-year-old against Wycombe on Tuesday night, following three appearances as a substitute. Anjorin played in an attacking midfield role and contributed for 56 minutes during the thrilling 2-1 victory.
This was his first Football League start since September 2022 when he was on loan at Huddersfield, having faced injury setbacks and an interrupted preseason. Portsmouth is cautious about overburdening the former England youth international early in his time at Fratton Park.
Mousinho, speaking to The News, commented, “I thought Tino played exceptionally well. It was a challenging game for him to step into, but he displayed some promising moments early on.”
He also highlighted an area for improvement, saying, “The other aspect Tino should work on is the opportunity he had towards the end of his time on the pitch; he certainly has the quality to convert chances like that.”
Mousinho acknowledged the significant progress Anjorin has made, considering it was his first league start in a long time, and he played for 56 minutes. Originally, they had considered limiting him to 45 minutes, but they decided against it due to his growing impact on the game.
Mousinho explained the importance of gradually building Anjorin’s match fitness, given his lack of a preseason and only a couple of substitute appearances since joining the team. He emphasized that Anjorin will continue to improve with more playing time.
There was a moment of concern in the first half when Anjorin received treatment for an ankle injury. Fortunately, he managed to continue, although he appeared to be limping when he was substituted for Christian Saydee around the 60-minute mark.
Mousinho clarified, “He suffered a knock to the ankle in the first half, which required treatment. When he went down, we feared the worst, but it turned out to be a minor ankle injury. He strapped it up at halftime, and he was okay.
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