And the Blues boss vowed to address the issues behind the worrying 2-0 defeat, which saw his team slump to the bottom of the Championship.
Mousinho conducted a 40-minute post-match inquest, as he side once again showed concerning traits in their fifth league defeat of the campaign in Wales.
Pompey started the game woefully, falling two goals down and were lucky to make it to the break without there being greater damage.
That gave them a mountain to climb with more attacking intent shown after the restart, though not remotely enough to threaten a comeback of any kind.
Mousinho said: ‘It was a poor performance overall and there were crucial moments in the game early on – and we gave ourselves a mountain to climb.
‘You can’t give teams a two-goal lead – and we did give them a two-goal lead – we completely switch off. It’s a side unrecognisable from the side we’ve seen at our best.
‘We gave ourselves a mountain to climb and then Cardiff got their tails up, there could’ve been a couple more goals. You just can’t go about trying to win games like that.
‘It’s infuriating and we showed three clips in the dressing room at full-time.
‘The first one was us winning the ball back and rather than us spinning the ball back into the channel and making it hard for a side like Cardiff, who won 5-0 at the weekend and were coming into the game with confidence, we play backwards and give away a free-kick and invite pressure.
‘We did the same against Stoke where we didn’t start the game well enough. We started the game flat-footed like we were still on the M4 and it’s too difficult to do that against players at this level.
‘It’s worrying because the mentality the lads showed on Saturday to win – and they then start the game like that.
‘I thought the way we approached the game looked a bit apologetic, to be honest. The corner (for the second goal) is a really good example of that.
‘We have players who are capable of winning headers and players capable of organising and using their voices to make sure we’re on it. I’m not entirely sure why that’s the case (they’re not alert), but it’s something we have to find the solution to.
‘We did spend a long time (in the dressing room), I don’t usually show things to the players. It’s usually a quick debrief – but I don’t think that performance warranted a quick debrief.’
Pompey now face another quick turnaround to Friday’s visit from Sheffield Wednesday, with questions being asked of their Championship credentials. Mousinho has promised to tackle similar traits resurfacing, after the 6-1 thrashing by Stoke at the start of the month.
He added: ‘I’ve got no issue with starting games front-footed and Cardiff pick us off with individual brilliance, because they’ve got really good players. Or maybe we put a shift in for 70 minutes, press all game and then get tired with Cardiff doing something to put the ball in the net.
‘I can live with that, but I can’t live with us starting the game so sluggishly.
‘That’s not a physical issue, we’re on about mentality – and that’s something that has to be addressed. I thought we had addressed that after Stoke, so to slip back into that is worrying.’
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