Football League World
·29 ottobre 2024
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·29 ottobre 2024
We asked our Portsmouth fan pundit which player is the first name on the teamsheet this season
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…
Callum Lang has been labelled as Portsmouth's only attacking threat after a start to the season which has seen him score four goals and register one assist in nine Championship appearances.
It's been a tough start to life for Pompey, and they sit rock bottom of the Championship after winning just one of their opening 12 games, but Lang has performed admirably in testing circumstances for John Mousinho's side.
26-year-old Lang joined Portsmouth from Wigan Athletic in January of this year, helping them get over the line when it came to winning the League One title, and he's now become their main attacking outlet in the Championship.
Pompey's start to the season has been a miserable one, and supporters will be thankful for Lang's goals because their poor start could have been a lot worse if it wasn't for him.
We asked our Portsmouth fan pundit, Miltos Ioannidis, who is the first name on the teamsheet for Pompey this season, and it was clear that Lang was by far their most important player in his eyes.
Speaking to Football League World, Miltos said: “Callum Lang, 100%.
“Callum Lang has been by far our best performer this campaign, he’s the most effective player we’ve got and our only attacking threat.
“Everything we do in terms of creating chances seems to always stem from Callum.
“The thought of not having Callum Lang or losing Callum Lang is just unthinkable. I don’t even want to think about what this side would look like without Callum Lang.
"Without further question (the first name on the teamsheet) is Callum Lang.”
Lang is only 22 games into his Pompey career, but he already has eight goals and two assists to his name, which works out as nearly a goal contribution every other game.
He's comfortably Pompey's top goalscorer with four goals, despite the fact he missed three games at the beginning of October, which just highlights how good he's been and how important he is to Mousinho's side.
Lang is contracted to Portsmouth until the summer of 2026 after signing a two-and-a-half year deal with the club, but if his side are relegated this season, you'd have thought there would be plenty of interest from other Championship sides, and they may struggle to keep hold of him.
His two goals away to Leeds United on the opening day of the season shows that he can do it against the very best in the Championship, and while he may be playing for a struggling side, he's certainly not struggling himself.