Nottingham Forest (H) | PL | Post Match Thread

[Mr HJ]

It’s confidence mainly he never been through this it’s always been an upward curve to then win player of the season! He has to player through it and pep has him dropping back more now which is not his game!

Yes I also think with the modern game opposition coaches study how to nullify your better players. Regards Phil I agree he has lost some confidence as he seems to want to take the easier pass rather than move the ball forward with purpose. His greatest strength was taking the ball on the half turn and you can see now defenders know that and stop him, when he did do it last night his shots didn't trouble their keeper - a sign of snatching at the shot.

The best players always evolve and Phil hasn't in many ways. His game is a little predictable. I also think he needs to be constantly moving into space - Cherki did that all game and found space so was able to drag defenders away and keep the ball moving - Phil's first movement is always towards the man in possession and he didn't change that - the result is the Forest defenders could easily step in and press him backwards and across. When Phil did get the pass he played it straight back to where it had come and this allowed Forest to keep in shape to stop us. A familiar pattern with his recent performances.

It feels to me like a pivotal moment for him - get through this and he'll be fine, sink further and he will be off to new pastures. I don't know if mentally he needs a new challenge but as I said the best players always adjust and find other ways to impact a match- the last few months it's been rinse and repeat and as a result both Phil and the team are not getting the best out of each other.

 

[East Level 2]

Harry kane, we should have went all out to get him at the time

The thing that swayed me towards Haaland over Kane was that Haaland would still be worth his transfer fee a few years down the line if things went wrong or he fancied a move. - And he was the best young striker in the world at the time.
He's still worth his fee, but we don't (or can't) play to his strengths and he offers less to our attack than Kane would when not scoring. However, he offers more defensively.
Haaland isn't the problem. Having midfielders that spend all game going sideways because they're scared of losing the ball is the problem.

 

[Eccles Blue]

It isn’t over until the fat lady sings!!
We are MANCHESTER CITY THE BEST TEAM IN THE LAND AND ALL THE WORLD.

 

[East Level 2]

And yet we still dominated the game.

At home against a team threatened by relegation. Whoopie fucking doo!!

 

[Eccles Blue]

Harry kane, we should have went all out to get him at the time

Never, never, never.

 

[East Level 2]

When the penalty call on Haaland was completely ignored by the idiotic referee and VAR I feared the worse - and it came to pass - they equalised. Of course, I have blue tinted glasses but the unbelievable decisions by the officials (VAR) in the game convinced me there is an agenda to prevent City from challenging for the title. (Example of their insistence that City do not challenge Arsenal - 95/6-minute Sels tips a goal bound effort over the bar - goal kick! Say no more)!!!!!!!!!!!!!

VAR decision - No foul Sels. - On the big screens.
It wasn't ignored, it was reviewed and deemed (rightly or wrongly) to not be a foul.

 

[GX Blue]

As frustrating as the result was, I thought we were quite good.

We controlled the game similar to the old days. Also similar to the old days we just conceded with every attack they had. Ha.

We don’t have elite players like De Bruyne who can win us a game.
I know everyone loves Cherki and he’s our man these days but he isn’t the player everyone thinks.

 

[john blue]

Pathetic. Titles done now.
6 on target from 21 is our ongoing issue. Shocking end product. Our striker is a statue but he used to be able to finish, he is a poor mans Nunez in 2026.

Knew we would have issues when i saw the starting team with a weak as piss midfield against a solid Forest midfield.

Again on Pep, tactics atm are a mess, too many little technical players and not enough leadership or hunger.
Kush should be in over Dias,but a proper right back and for gods sake, sort our mess of a midfield out.

Foden isnt taking the chances he is given, would seriously consider cashing in on him as its becoming the normal now and we need serious competition for Haaland and thsts not Marmoosh.

Arsenal are miles ahead of us, they can actually defend and have better squad quality.

cash in on foden, who do you think would buy him, how much ,?

 

[Eaststander1]

.

Never, never, never.

We would have got a willing workhorse and plenty of goals out of Harry Kane, that's for sure, and he wouldn't have been a failure at City ..... but Levy was being difficult , and we went for Haaland instead.

 

[flapjack]

it was a strange one, I expected us to come flying out the blocks similar to how we did against Newcastle, where you could feel that sense of excitement and crackle in the air, but it didn't happen....I think Nico O was a huge miss, he gives us that dynamism in midfield and drives us forward, also I think Marmoush gives us that as well as he plays on the front foot and tries to make things happen

 

[skillman]

Can’t shake the feeling that if NOR had been fit we’d have won that game.

100%

Foden wouldn’t have been on and both their goals stemmed from Phil, unfortunately.

 

[Blueknows]

VAR decision - No foul Sels. - On the big screens.
It wasn't ignored, it was reviewed and deemed (rightly or wrongly) to not be a foul.

I dont think any of the 3 shouts for a pen were pens imo , another poor performance , not good enough to say we are on a title run in

 

[East Level 2]

Added to the fact we are the most boring, regimented and predictable side in the prem.....

And that's what's killing us. There is hardly an ounce of spontaneity in the team. We see the occasional bit as you'd expect, but nowhere near enough for a team near the top.

 

[steviemc]

There were many occasions last night where we had the opportunity to break at pace but the ball-player would be waiting for other players, ultimately playing a backwards pass which ended up killing the attack. As soon as this happens we then revert to the routine of passing sideways along the back line, which allows the opposition defenders tons of time to get back into position. I think this rinse and repeat rigid playing style comes with a trade-off of creativity - which has certainly been lacking in a few matches recently.

As for the triple 'one-two's' between certain players when both players stay in exactly the same position - this shit needs to stop, especially when there's a level of urgency needed. We're not the fucking Harlem Globetrotters.

 

[jaiguruKun]

As frustrating as the result was, I thought we were quite good.

We controlled the game similar to the old days. Also similar to the old days we just conceded with every attack they had. Ha.

We don’t have elite players like De Bruyne who can win us a game.
I know everyone loves Cherki and he’s our man these days but he isn’t the player everyone thinks.

I don't think anyone would say he is as good as De Bruyne, but there is also room for development in his game which we've already seen this season.

 

[Bozzie]

Frustrating evening. Forest well organised, sat deep until they had to play more offensively and were then able to hit us where it hurts. As seems to happen so often now, we scored a good goal and then showed little desire to add to it until they equalised.
I’m not good with the tactical malarkey but, from my perspective, if we’re going to use our full backs to provide some width to our play then they either need to be able to go past their man and whip a cross in or, if they haven’t got the pace, create some space to get the cross in. That obviously requires both a quality cross and our attacking players to get into position to receive it. Alternatively, they need to be the ones overlapping our midfield players and then receiving a ball in behind the defenders (admittedly not that easy against 5 at the back). That rarely happened last night and, to me, has been lacking all season. Both Nunes and Ait-Nouri just seem to turn, pass the ball inside to Bernardo or Cherki and it’s rinse and repeat. The one time we (can’t remember who) played a killer ball across the goal there was no one to convert it. The only time we offered any threat from our wide players was when Savinho came on late.

 

[Tuearts right boot]

There were many occasions last night where we had the opportunity to break at pace but the ball-player would be waiting for other players, ultimately playing a backwards pass which ended up killing the attack. As soon as this happens we then revert to the routine of passing sideways along the back line, which allows the opposition defenders tons of time to get back into position. I think this rinse and repeat rigid playing style comes with a trade-off of creativity - which has certainly been lacking in a few matches recently.

As for the triple 'one-two's' between certain players when both players stay in exactly the same position - this shit needs to stop, especially when there's a level of urgency needed. We're not the fucking Harlem Globetrotters.

It gets boring week after week...any forward advantage is just stifled in a clueless midfield

 

[noseve]

If we’d nicked a winner, this thread would read completely different. That’s football. Fine margins change everything and people forget the bigger picture when the result doesn’t go our way

I'd go the other way - all season a lot of posters on here have been missing the bigger picture after results have gone our way. Half the forum don't see past the result, half are concerned by poor performances and get called out as 'fanny wipes'. Posters claiming defensive credit for clean sheets after the opposition have spurned a handful of glaring opportunities, that's a common one.

Remember Pep keeping the players back after beating West Ham 3-0? That's because he could see warning signs (yet nobody called him a 'fanny wipe'?).

Personally I don't think that last night was any worse than our average performance this season - we just didn't get away with it this time, that's all.

It's where we are. Nothing to do with 'transitioning'. Sure, we have some top new individuals - but in terms of tactics we haven't changed anything (apart from a couple of false dawns lasting a single match) since the dramatic fall-off, approaching 18 months ago now.

After the Old Trafford debacle, I wasn't too concerned about the points at the time because I was convinced that we weren't good enough to win the league anyway. My frustration was just about failing to turn up against that lot.

As Arsenal have failed to pull away, however, that's turned around and last night was all about the 2 dropped points.

There's no point in expecting any great turn around in tactics or mindset - just accept that we aren't particularly strong and enjoy an exciting run in.

 

[noseve]

We're not the fucking Harlem Globetrotters.

We do have the odd Lemon, though...

 

[Eaststander1]

100%

Foden wouldn’t have been on and both their goals stemmed from Phil, unfortunately.

Whilst that's true, good sides cover for each others mistakes and snuff any danger out ..... we can hold Foden responsible, but those around him should have reacted better to him losing the ball, seen the danger off, and then let young Phil know that they've had to do it in no uncertain terms!!

It's then up to Pep to decide whether he's having a poor game, or not, and take the appropriate action.