I don't care for Nuno-ball, but I want Forest to get a CL slot just to break the monotony of the "usual suspects" .
Totally agree. To say he played well is bizarre, for the reasons that you list and for the overriding fact that with Kulu playing as the 'playmaker, but not influencing the game at all and Nuno setting up Forest with a strong 4 man midfield, there was no way that Sarr and Bantancur would be able to effectively compete. The only time that changed was when Bergvall was introduced.
Ally Gold is a top bloke and his itk status is valuable, but his level of tactical analysis is very poor (and is imo together with a weak writing style the reason he hasn't managed to rise higher than his current station as a middling journo). He will often award players high marks simply for the fact that they ran around a lot. I think the sub that changed the game last night was Danso. He regularly advanced well into the Forest half, at one point getting off a decent effort with his weaker foot. His presence started dragging that Forest midfield out of position which created pockets of space for Bergvall to exploit. On the latter point - neither Sarr nor Bentancur appear to know how to attack space like Bergvall does. Both attack the ball which is why they spend most games running around like headless chickens.
I have questioned Sarrs contribution a few times this season, and in the last week we have seen him come on and make no difference in Frankfurt and start yesterday and offer very little. Now it is very difficult to judge players under Ange as we all know and he has a had a couple of very good games in the season, but he would be one of the players that I would be happy to listen to offers for in the summer.
I'd also be grateful if someone could shed light on why we've spent the bulk of two years taking a player with a delivery as good as Porro's and making him underlap to cut inside where he can't cross the ball? Anyone?
He looks lost, as do most of our midfielders. Bergvall is the only one who doesn't and I think that's more despite than because of Ange's input. The lad's ceiling is immense. It's like DH has been saying for weeks. It just isn't possible that so many supposedly good players look so bad every week. It must be the system and set up that is killing their games. The second half last night was a rare insight into how Ange wants us to play, but as I said a year ago: in a league as tough as the PL, he'll need a billion quid to build a team good enough to do what he wants it to do.
The midfield three made absolutely no sense last night. Bentancur had far too much to do alongside two players out of position. Sarr on the left was ridiculous and a half-fit Kulusevki was even worse. Tel worked his arse off and showed some glimpses, but he was too wide to be effective. Odobert struggled on the other side, which is not his normal position. Richarlison grafted and got a goal, but he's also miles off 100%. Our defence, keeper and midfield are badly coached and rarely look in control. Our forward line is disjointed, the striker is always isolated and they get no service. The system doesn't suit the squad and probably wouldn't work anyway. Nuno's doing exactly what he always does and it's working. A well-organised group of grafters that are hard to break down. They'll use physicality and some quality on breaks and set-pieces to score. It's then up to you to break them down. How predictable was the pointless keeper caution in injury time? The prick warned him three times on one goalkick in the first half. They'll bungle the new rules when they come in, too. Utterly incompetent.
I agree with 99% of your post, but think (like Tel, but to a much lesser extent of course) Odobert was very positive, worked hard and tried his best to provide some product for Richarlison to work with. Tel was a revelation and showed some of the skills and commitment that has him so highly rated. Problem is that he was looking very frustrated at times (understandably) and unless things change I don't reckon he would be interested in staying beyond his loan period.
The system means that they start too wide and have everyone to beat. There's no threat of an overlap most of the time, so they've got several players in front of them. They're on their weaker foot for crosses and too far out and wide to shoot. It's stupid.
As @Citizen Kane. so eloquently put it a few pages back my son and I both commented that Bentancur was well off it, as was an obviously not fully fit Kulusevski. How Ally Gold rated the former so high I do not know as I swear he did not play one forward pass last night, forever side-ways!! The whole midfield (which has always been a massive issue for me) was ineffective and it was only once Bergvall, along with Danso came on, that a massive difference could be seen. I genuinely fear for Sunday if he plays that team again as we could be looking at another 6 goal thumping. As an aside we were surrounded by lots of empty seats, I counted 10 in the row in front of us, and there also appeared to be quite a few throughout the stadium. Bank holiday probably did not help but I was surprised at the attendance figures quoted. The atmosphere was also totally flat from the off and aside from the obvious boos at half time the crowd seemed resigned to this not going well. Never a good sign, and the place was practically empty when the players tried to go over the very small numbers left dotted around… So here I sit with my season ticket renewal notice still in the inbox and I wonder if it is all worth the hassle, especially as it is such a long trip there and back. Of course, if I don’t then it will be the one season the finally win something of note…. The only upside to last night was that the roads coming back were the quietest I had ever seen and we were back by 12:30. Result.
Agreed, I though both him and Odobert were a couple of stand outs on a dismal night. Why on earth would Tel want to stay here though???
Agreed. Is there a system though? Is there any coaching? Does not look like it from where I was sitting!
If we lose every league game but win Europa then I’d bite your hand off even if it meant Ange stays. I’m warning to the idea of getting rid of Ange even if we’re to win Europa though, although I’d be very surprise if we win it and he’s not given the start of next season. Being in the champions league would hopefully either widen the pool of managers available or convince anyone who’s not sure. I still stand by my opinion we have the players to get back to competing for the European places so all that combined might make us an attractive proposition.
More than anything else, Forest getting CL royally ****s over Villa's business plan of needing to qualify for the CL every year so their finances don't implode like a billionaire visiting the Titanic in a homemade submarine
This is the thing about Deki's post-match rant: it would have had far more impact if it was clear he was trying to make things happen, or was getting PO'd at playing passes his teammates never made the run for, but he was horribly ineffective There's also the issue with said rant that he accuses us of not being prepared to play both PL and Europa, but that's wide of the mark: the issues with this season boil down to us gunning for all four competitions and the increased toll that would put on certain players, especially considering the glaring issue that while we were resting Cuti and Mickey Van by playing Dragusin & Davies as our CBs in both the Europa and League Cup the lack of FB depth was staring us in the face as Spence wasn't in the Europa squad while Davies playing CB meant Udogie was our only LB, and the solution was to have Archie play out of position at RB If we started Spence in League Cup games we'd have had the option to rest Porro or Udogie right there, and that was the first domino to topple
"when we play in the Europa League, the build up to the game is real.” WTAF does that mean about the general preparation for PL games???
