Pundit Danny Murphy has criticised Nottingham Forest for their performance against Bournemouth in the Premier League.
It has hardly been the season that Nottingham Forest fans were expecting. Nuno Espirito Santo, who guided Forest to Europa League football last season, was sacked just weeks into the season, replaced by Ange Postecoglou who himself had been relieved from his duties with Tottenham Hotspur.
Inheriting a squad that had not been built for his style of football, Postecoglou endured a horrible time at the City Ground. The Australian won none of the eight games he managed, being sacked after a 3-0 defeat at home against Chelsea.
Sean Dyche, formerly of Burnley and Everton, was appointed as Postecoglou's replacement and got off to a winning start, beating Porto 2-0 in the Europa League. Just days later, however, Dyche's team conceded twice in a loss to high-flying Bournemouth.
During the game, Danny Murphy, often seen now working in punditry, was critical in speaking about what he saw from Forest against the Cherries.
Forest 'Too Negative' Against Bournemouth
Bournemouth's Marcus Tavernier and Nottingham Forest's Neco Williams
Just 11 minutes into the game, Murphy, writing on the BBC website, spoke about how poor Forest had been to open the match. He said:
"Forest have been too negative so far. I know it's almost the same team that faced Porto on Thursday, with only one change, but they've been too much on the back foot, and they don't have enough presence up front when they do get the ball."
The deadlock was broken in the 25th minute when Marcus Tavernier, taking a corner, beat Matz Sels directly from the dead ball. Forest were, understandably, aggrieved about the corner, given replays seemed to show the ball hitting a Bournemouth player last before going out.
Just 15 minutes later, Eli Junior Kroupi doubled Bournemouth's lead, scoring his fourth goal of the season. Forest were unable to find a response, mustering just eight shots in the match as they fell to their sixth defeat within nine Premier League games.
Dyche, of course, can not be too harshly criticised for losing his first league game in charge of Forest, who went through a turgid run of form with Postecoglou. It is clear, though, that their new manager has to work in order to pull Forest away from the bottom three. He must also ensure that such a style of play, which could prove frustrating for Forest fans, does not become consistent for the Midlands side.