Current Nottingham Forest viewpoint following the Reds’ disastrous run of only one victory in their previous 13 games following their loss to Tottenham on Friday.
Out of all the losses Nottingham Forest has suffered lately, Friday’s 2-0 setback to Tottenham belongs in the “acceptable” category.
Nobody can deny that Steve Cooper’s team did not put up a good enough effort against a team that was top of the Premier League table only a month ago. In the end, Dejan Kulusevski and Richarlison goals condemned Forest to their third straight home loss.
The Reds, who had drawn 1-1 at Wolves prior to losing to Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs, have reacted with heart and grit to their bizarre 5-0 loss at Fulham.
However, after seeing the match on Friday night at the City Ground, I had a distinct idea. From being a team fighting for their Premier League lives the previous season, Forest has not changed.
Steve Cooper’s team is still playing at a very low level, putting in a lot of effort but not producing enough quality to get past opposing defenses. When the Reds were playing their first season back in the top flight after 23 years, that was acceptable in 2022–2023.
However, Forest’s style of play needs to improve in their second consecutive Premier League season.
Of course, there are restrictions. Due to Chris Wood’s injuries, Forest was forced to play Anthony Elanga and Morgan Gibbs-White out of position against Spurs. Taiwo Awoniyi’s injury is a major blow to Cooper’s team.
Additionally, there will probably always be a quality difference between Forest and the best Premier League sides. Many, though, would view teams like Bournemouth as a damning critique of Forest’s meager offensive efforts under Cooper.
Furthermore, it is understandable why the Greek owner of the team, Evangelos Marinakis, could be hoping for more from his financial commitment on the field given the sums of money he has lavished on the Forest team since their promotion.
One cannot argue that Marinakis hasn’t given Cooper many opportunities to have a positive impact at Forest. Perhaps the Welshman will pull off another Houdini trick to stop Forest’s downfall.
But as long as Forest plays analog football in the digital age, it gets more difficult to support the under-pressure manager of the Reds.
Leave a Comment