15 Jan 2025 03:52:56
Hi Ed001, I am eagerly waiting for your review. I have 2 questions. I am maybe wrong with my observation too.
1. Shouldn't Slot tried by replacing Macca with Bardley. Bardley moving to TAA position and TAA moving into mid. He can pass or strike the ball with much better freedom. TAA tried to get into the position to shoot but can't have enough time. If he was more in mid He would have tried at least couple of more times for shooting.
2. Gakpo looked poor IMO. I thought it should Diaz should have been played or Cheisa or Elliott should have come on for him.
{Ed001's Note - 1. I would have liked him to try that too. Macca had a stinker yet again and it would have made sense to take him off.
2. Gakpo barely received a pass worthy of the name. Diaz was terrible, not sure why you would want to keep him on instead?}
15 Jan 2025 04:47:25
Ed,
I just don’t understand the dislike for Mac. Each to their own, but I felt he was the midfielder holding the pieces together tonight. Felt to me like we were hamstrung by the annual departure of Mo to a beach, to be replaced by his less talented twin. It happens every year - and I suspect those banners for him to get mad wages will now deflate.
Thought it a superb game: possibly the best I have watched since these two teams monstered it out in the 80s. Jota clearly being trained by John Aldridge….
{Ed001's Note - he was terrible, how was he holding the pieces together? He has no awareness, no discipline, no skill, nothing. That is why the subs changed the game and made a massive improvement as he and Gravenberch together left the defence wide open. Forest can walk through as neither of them anticipate danger.
Mo did ok, but there was no space. Not sure what he was meant to do? But then you think Mac Allister was good, so not sure you even watched the same game.}
15 Jan 2025 04:48:54
Fair share of points yesterday.
We were the better team as Forest did not create any noteworthy opportunity all game except for one chance and scored from it.
Fans are dissappotinted because we always expect to get 3 points but considering Forest has won 6 or 7 on trot at home, this is a good result in the overall scheme of things.
I felt we needed to be relaxed in first half and could have invited some pressure by playing from the back. (keeping the ball around and bring them forward to bait)
Right from start, all their 11 players were rooted deep in their own half and clearly came up with closed shop approach with draw as the only option. They got it.
We could have played a tad faster in 1st half but it was dictated by their setup which was ultra low block.
Was hoping Macca would be the first to be subb'd but taking Konate out was surprising. It was a masterstroke as we got the goal immediately.
Not sure what has happened with our corner deliveries. It is getting worse each game. Robbo should never be taking any more. he has 0 control. all of his passes (Crossing) are just hopeful punts and same goes for corners.
15 Jan 2025 05:36:39
I thought Diaz's dribble will be handy at wide positions compared to Gakpo Ed001 and also in my opinion he would have got enough space at wide more than at centre as it was cramped. Maybe i am wrong here.
{Ed001's Note - there was no space there either as Forest were so defensively disciplined.}
15 Jan 2025 05:57:00
The diaz false 9 experiment just doesn't work against a team determined to sit in a low block and not move forward to track him, when he's in the box too we're spamming crosses in which- despite the fact that he's actually much better in the air than he looks- doesn't play at all to his strengths either. Jota when he came on was absolutely electric, think he had 3 big chances on his own in 25 minutes. He doesn't look as effective starting though, so it's a conundrum.
15 Jan 2025 06:50:16
Let’s not forget how much better we looked with tsimikas instead of Robbo. Time for him to be first choice left back until end of the season. Robbos confidence has gone with his legs - awful performance again.
15 Jan 2025 08:19:26
I have to agree Brummy. Robertson looked woeful again. In the second half when he trips over his own feet because he got himself wrong side and had to try and sort his feet, just sums him up. Has to be Tsimi for a while now until we get a new face in.
I didn’t see Macca a terrible game personally. Not one of his best at all but not terrible for me.
Diaz was very poor and Jota showed us what we’d been missing when he came on.
Szob was taking hits all game from their players but kept going and pushed through, fair play to him.
15 Jan 2025 08:28:31
Arnold in midfield is a non starter for me. He hasn’t been at it at all recently and it’s just a free pass at our defence while he’s playing like he is. He’s just not a centre midfielder. Truth is we should have invested in a top class defensive minded midfielder and we haven’t. Get a Baleba or Ederson next to Gravenberch and we’ll be solid in the middle, until then we’re still a bit soft in the middle.
15 Jan 2025 08:31:48
It was vital we didn't concede the first goal and get the crowd up even more and give them something to defend even more.
Salah loses the ball cheaply and there's only van Dijk in a defensive position!
Ed is right about the lack of discipline in midfield and add to that that TAA and Konate can go wondering we are too easy to get at.
I'm not knocking TAA because of what he offers going forward but we need to compensate for that.
We need someone to sit with Grav and keep on at him. I'd go with Endo or Bradley or bring someone in.
I'm also losing patience with Szob. He's becoming a Jones or an Elliott;
Not strong enough for midfield or creative enough to play up front.
He was outmuscled a few times, Havertz'd a header to equalise in the first half, dallied on the ball and hit the first defender a few times when crossing or passing.
He's got legs and last night perhaps wasn't the night for him but he needs to show more steel, quality or both.
I don't think he can and I suspect Slot thinks the same.
{Ed001's Note - he wasn't outmuscled, he was fouled, there is a big difference. Forest hit him every time they could as they know knocking him out the game would make us struggle. He has become key to this system as he is the only midfielder who offers genuine attacking movement.}
15 Jan 2025 08:45:38
You're in the minority, Ed, when it comes to Mac Allister. I don't consider him to be world class, far from it, but reading your critique you'd think he was Mr Bean! Regards to Forest's goal, I thought Salah wasat fault for just putting in a half hearted challenge.
{Ed001's Note - doesn't mean I am wrong, he is not good enough in the deep role. Hardly saying he is Mr Bean, just saying he is a liability in the role he is asked to perform. Play him further forward, he was a 10 and has no defensive nous or awareness.}
15 Jan 2025 09:00:14
I agree, Ed. Szobo was being targeted by the Forrest players a lot and the ref kept letting it go. Any player would look weak or outmuscled when the oppo. keeps grabbing, shoving and knocking you down. Also, he looked knackered as well maybe due to just coming back from illness or/ in addition to type of treatment he was getting.
Also, you made this statement "Ed001's Note - there was no space there either as Forest were so defensively disciplined. "
Now this right here, is what has gotten Forrest where they are. They NEVER want the ball and are essentially a counter attacking team even on their home ground and when they go a goal up, they put a lot of pressure on you to play the perfect pass, make the perfect run, the perfect thru ball etc. mainly due to you guessed it, how defensively disciplined Forrest are. This is Nuno's calling card as he used to do the exact same thing at Wolves with good success.
Now, the fact that we were able to break the down, equalize and create that many chances to the point of Sels being MOTM, shows are great we did in that second half. All that being said, we need to play better, start games better and stay concentrated so as not to get caught out as easily as we did. And if subs are warranted in the first half, SLot should not hesitate to do so.
{Ed001's Note - the difference between Mac Allister and Anderson is stark, both played as number 10s before, both want to play attacking football. One, immediately the ball is lost bust a gut and got back into defensive position and showed good defensive awareness to react to danger, the other is Mac Allister.}
15 Jan 2025 09:04:45
Agreed, Sob was given rough treatment. Also he hasn’t played 90 minutes for a while. We needed someone to really step up and win us the game with some real quality but unfortunately we are not fully firing atm.
15 Jan 2025 09:36:26
I disagree, Ed001.
Szob was often outmuscled last night and it has happened in other games.
And that header! He was up above Williams and the ball comes off his shoulder.
He has got pace and mobility but he needs to create or score more and Slot has said the same.
He can make that advanced midfield role his own because we don't have many options. Either way, it's about opinions but I don't see him as one of the two deeper midfielders and he needs to do more as the more advanced one. If we were more solid it might help him but that remains to be seen.
{Ed001's Note - ok, we will have to disagree on it. He is the only midfielder who performed last night.}
15 Jan 2025 10:30:19
We started very well last night. Until they scored we dominated the ball, were finding space between the lines and created a few half chances (all of which went about 20 yards over the bar) . They then scored with their first attack and we stopped doing the things that were working before that. At half time I would have hooked Macca and Diaz. They were both abysmal in the first half. At half time Slot was able to straighten them back out. We came out better for the second half and for the last half hour we were great.
15 Jan 2025 10:37:37
Mac looks tidy on the ball but i'm quite disappointed when i watch him off the ball. So often he is out of place and it leads to a goal which the fan base will blame on another player. He's clearly not a deep defensive minded player and should only be playing as a number 10 which is what he is. I'm not saying he is a bad player, just that he is playing in a position which does not suit him. It was evident last year when he played number 6 and it is evident this season in a different format.
{Ed001's Note - that is exactly what I am saying too.}
15 Jan 2025 10:50:36
Don’t know how anyone can defend macca last night. I thought he was watching tennis first half the way he was watching play. It be nice if RM came in for him.
{Ed001's Note - because people are following the ball, so they don't always see what else is happening away from the ball. It is the same at games, some people see just the ball and what is happening there, others will look at more. The problem with TV watching is that the commentators and pundits who are meant to see more and point it out for people, are usually just idiots who see nothing. Beglin is one of the worst, usually needing 3 or 4 replays to see what was blatantly obvious on first viewing.}
15 Jan 2025 10:55:51
Szob was blatantly targeted by Forrest last night. They were overly physical at times to my mind, the NFL style take out of Diaz by Murillo that the red waved on was the perfect example.
15 Jan 2025 11:09:48
I dunno what game some folks were watching last night but szoboszlai was superb, he put himself about, threw himself into duels, sprinted back to cover spaces and win challenges and got us up the pitch. Maybe some of his passing in the final third wasn’t great but having him on the pitch with his aggression and his athleticism meant we weren’t going to be utterly bullied by forest.
15 Jan 2025 12:11:41
So essentially Ed01 (and I know you are no fan of Macca from almost the off), you are saying that a midfield base of Grav and Endo with either Macca or Szobo would do the trick esp. from a defensive standpoint, right?
Or are you saying that Macca since he can't play deeper nor further forward due to his lack of defensive soundness nor athleticism/ physicality, he should be sold?
Cheers, man.
{Ed001's Note - I would also be happy to see Szob take the deeper role for a bit to see what he can do. Macca has to either play further forward or be sold. His skillset is short, quick passing and making forward runs to create or finish chances in and around the box. That leaves him too far forward in the system we are using.}
15 Jan 2025 13:01:44
@PB, Im not even sure Szobo was fully fit but hats of to him, he gutted it out.
15 Jan 2025 13:50:44
To add a bit to the discussion I’ve thought watching us for a while the press from the front just isn’t anywhere near as effective as it once was either, which is the first line of defence.
These are very fine lines, but if you think back under Jurgen with his best team which was almost perfect at this, we had a front three press that was the best around, with quite a destructive and highly efficient second press with the likes of Hendo and others, and two full backs who provided an unbelievable level of creativity. We also had prime VVD and someone alongside who had pace and physicality and could also pass a ball fantastically, oh and a brilliant keeper.
We’re basically not as good as that team, despite our numbers this season being great across the first twenty games, and we also have a legacy of some of those players still being around some on the decline but also the likes of Trent who are still playing in a way that needs those team attributes to exist for them to be effective.
That’s a long way of saying this isn’t just a midfield thing! But I equally agree the balance isn’t right in there.