Ange Postecoglou will be waking up in disbelief that Nottingham Forest lost late on to Swansea City, a game that saw one of Nuno Espírito Santo’s favourites struggle.
Postecoglou bemoaned Forest’s lack of clinical edge in his post-match interview after the 3-2 defeat in South Wales, a game in which the Reds had plenty of opportunities to put themselves out of sight.
The frustrations clearly boiled over as Postecoglou could be heard shouting in the dressing room, clearly frustrated given the amount of talent on the pitch for Forest throughout.
Plenty of new signings got their chance in the Carabao Cup clash, but it was one of Espírito Santo’s most loyal players who will have caused the new head coach significant alarm.
Willy Boly in action for Nottingham Forest vs Al Qadsiah
Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images
Willy Boly had a nightmare game against Swansea City
With the full debuts of Nicolo Savona and Oleksandr Zinchenko at full-back, it was good to see the experienced head of Willy Boly in the centre of defence to help iron out any potential teething issues in the new group.
However, the Ivorian looked significantly off the pace in his first appearance of the season, with the blame for Swansea’s first two goals landing at his feet.
The first was a strong header from Cameron Burgess, but when watching it back, it’s clear that Boly wasn’t performing any role at the corner. He wasn’t marking anyone, which suggests that he was marking a zone instead, but then he failed to react and meet the ball once it was delivered.
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This inability to react was on show for the second goal, too, as Zan Vipotnik drifted in front of Boly unchallenged so that he could meet the low cross at the near post to steer home.
It wasn’t just the goals, though, as the underlying stats from Boly’s performance indicate a player who simply couldn’t match the speed of the game.
Willy Boly’s stats from the Swansea defeat were worrying
Boly was handed a contract extension at the end of the season when Espírito Santo was still in the hot seat, a decision that made sense given the pair’s long-standing relationship with the experienced defender.
However, when it comes to actually helping Forest on the pitch, the Swansea defeat hinted that Boly’s time may be up.
Statistic Willy Boly vs Swansea City
Tackles 0
Blocks 0
Interceptions 0
Headed clearances 3
Postecoglou needs his defence to be aggressive but Boly was anything but against Swansea, not contributing a single tackle, block or interception in the game.
He was also lucky not to give away a penalty in the first half too, with a rash challenge in the box that was waved away by the referee.
There’s no doubting that Boly’s experience can help the young Forest side off the pitch, but on it? Perhaps not anymore after the Swansea defeat.