Written by kirsikka
After last week’s struggles in the air, AI acted to bring in Milosavljevic for Diakite, adding more height to a defensive line-up which was surely set to face another trial by high ball. Meanwhile, it was good to see Unal fit enough after his long-term injury to make the bench.
The start of the Dyche era at Forest was celebrated by their fans, once again sending the away coach off on its journey to Bournemouth with a world-famous display of pyrotechnics; three sparklers and a small Catherine Wheel. It’s the kind of explosive excitement unlikely to be repeated on the pitch under their new boss. Yes, not even that.
For explosive, they should look at how AFCB approached the start of the game, as we hit them like a hurricane. Fortunately, no signs were dislodged from the stadium as we pinned them back with an aggressive high press and never let them settle.
Man of the Match against Forest
Truffert
Truffert
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Petrovic
Petrovic
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Tavernier
Tavernier
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Kroupi
Kroupi
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Adams
Adams
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Scott
Scott
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Someone else
Someone else
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What was noticeable was that we had prepared for Forest to sit deep and were very deliberate in playing lots of short, sharp passes in and around the box with multiple players offering darting movement for the man on the ball to hit. I don’t think they had an answer for it or ever got to grips with it, and I hope to see it a lot more.
Given the level of data, coaching staff and awareness of other teams in modern football, it seems unlikely to dismiss a team as being ill-prepared. Having said that, it came across to me that they thought if they stopped Semenyo, they stopped AFCB. What a mistake.
The nascent Tavs and Jiminez combination caused all sorts of problems, with the former probably the standout player on the pitch across the afternoon. Non-stop energy and genuine quality on the ball, most of the time.
The first goal came from one such move, with Tavs bursting into the area to get onto a ball played in by Jiminez, only to see his cross blocked and behind for a corner. Subsequent slow-motion replays showed it came back off Tavs and should have been a goal kick. However, that’s one in which I can give the ref a pass since it happened so fast and wasn’t obvious.
Having played our two previous corners short and then messed up the delivery from a different angle, this time Tavs pumped it into the danger zone directly and saw it sail directly into the net at the back post.
On the replay, you can see Adams is standing on the keeper and gives him a small shove when the ball is incoming, which puts him off. I’m going to be honest and say if that goal is given against us, I’m absolutely spitting feathers. Sure, it wasn’t the biggest push, but the keeper is already midair when it happens, so has no way to set himself against it.
I think it should have been disallowed as the keeper would have been directly in the flight of the ball without Adams getting involved. However, the mysteries of VAR once again displayed their tombola-style approach to events and let the goal stand.
It’s worth saying that many teams have players on the posts and/or a player who marshals anyone tasked with upsetting the keeper on corners, but Forest had neither. With the latter in particular in place, I don’t think that goal is scored.
Scott was all over the pitch in a way we could only have dreamed of last week, prodding and prompting attacks and unleashing a few threatening shots. He also put in one pixel-perfect two-footed sliding tackle. The kind where you get it slightly wrong and it’s a red card. It wasn’t immaculate.
With the AFCB press still creating havoc for the visitors, Adams intercepted the ball near the halfway line and looked set to break on goal. He was blatantly and deliberately pulled down to stop the attack from developing.
What does the ref do? He let’s play on because the ball squirmed its way to Kroupi Jr, who could have a go at making the attack happen instead. With the covering Forest defenders all backing off, he strode forward, opened up his body to give him space for a shot and unleashed one into the corner, leaving the keeper no chance.
I’m not sure about snooker loopy, but at this rate of scoring, he must be on course for about 147 this season!
I don’t think anyone can express surprise at seeing a dinosaur like Dyche on the Jurassic coast, but his team were incapable of stopping our young velociraptor up front. Lethal.
Controversial first goal or not, it was a half where we pummelled them and were genuinely good value for a two-goal lead.
Second half, I started to worry we might see a repeat of the Palace game as we came out much more circumspect and Forest threw everything forward. I think their big problem was they lacked the quality to make things happen and the game sort of drifted by.
Subs came and went without too much changing. Petrovic did eventually have to make one very good save to keep out a shot curling away from him, but that was about it from them.
We didn’t really offer any threat in the first half until the 88th minute when a gorgeous sweeping move saw the ball played into Christie inside the area and begging to be hammered into the net. Instead, he tried a backheel, and a defender cleaned it up. A shame!
There was time for Unal to come on for a 90-second cameo. Whatever your thoughts on him, I think everyone can appreciate the way he’s battled back after another horrendous injury. Hopefully, he gives AI another option in the weeks to come.
That was it. A solid three points, some good individual performances, a few tactical things to think about and an absolutely dream start to his life in the PL for Kroupi Jr. Great stuff.
Hard to know what Dyche’s spiel will be at Forest, given his career has been built on bemoaning the cost of everyone else’s squad. For reference, Forest’s spend since promotion is reported as €672m (net: €371m) against AFCB’s €496m (net: €190m).
Still, unlike SD, AI won’t feel the need to bring that up in every interview, even when playing other teams, as he has something Dyche can only dream about: class.
Selected Player Watch
—– Tavernier —–
Was our main threat out there today, which surprised Forest, who seemed to have prepped to only stop Semenyo. First half, he was simply brilliant, quieter during his time on the pitch the second, but so was everyone.
—– Scott —–
Another who stood out in the first half. Totally outclassed England international Anderson and ran the show for 45 minutes. Also had a subdued second period.
—– Kroupi Jr —–
The same questions remain about his overall contribution when not shooting, but nobody can deny that he looks lethal as a goal scorer. The rest of his game will develop, and he’ll never lose that striker’s instinct. What a player he’s going to be.
—– Milosavljevic —–
Solid. Didn’t really face the aerial bombardment we were maybe expecting, but was tidy all afternoon and not in the slightest overawed by the occasion. Looks to be a find.
—– Senesi —–
We’ve had the Argentinian tangent on the forum this week, but it was the Argentinian tango out there as Senesi kept in perfect lockstep with whoever he was marking all afternoon. He’s a fleckerl away from getting a Strictly call-up.
—– Jiminez —–
The way he linked up with Tavs in the first half was superb. He is showing a lot of promise, and I’m already expecting us to make this a permanent deal.
AI and Tactics Watch
First half, we completely blitzed them and were more than worthy of a two-goal lead, no matter how it came. Second half, we were much more passive, but, fortunately for us, Forest didn’t have the quality of Palace last week.
It felt comfortable, but only as long as they didn’t score from somewhere. That may sound obvious, yet the way we sat back and asked them to break us down gave them a crack of an opening in a match where they were nowhere. If they’d have scored one, I fear the second may have come.
You can see AI is still thinking and experimenting, trying different things to see what might be viable options in crunch situations. The trial of Adli, leading the line to try and get the ball to stick more, didn’t work out as he proved no more effective than Kroupi. I appreciate the intent behind these things, though.
I understand we weren’t the only team on the pitch, and Forest made a lot of changes in the break. However, on reflection, it did feel like a deliberate ploy to dial down the intensity and try and hit them on the break instead. Like last week, it never really happened, and without a Solanke or even an Evanilson, who isn’t a hold-up type player but is clever with his first-time layoffs, I’m not sure it’s the best way to see out matches from so early.
All that said, I’m quibbling over things that worked, so don’t read too much into it. We’re second in the Premier League with a quarter of the season gone. Second. It’s insane.
I’ve no idea if we can keep it up or where exactly it is we’re aiming for this season, apart from a number so low it induces vertigo in me. Which is kind of the opposite of the way low things are meant to work.
Everyone of you out there, enjoy it. Lean into it. Revel in where we are and what’s going on with our club right now.
Next week we’ll go away to relegation-threatened Man City (once they get their 50-point deduction) with a genuine chance to try and put some pressure on the league leaders. Wowsers.
Your say…
Waz-AFCB wrote…
We were brilliant in the first half, such good interplay on show. Don’t know if they chose to sit back or if we penned them in, but we applied constant pressure to their goal, and they eventually cracked.
That was Tav’s best game on the wing in a long time. I think it really helped him having a right back bombing up to support him, as he isn’t a natural dribbler in the way that Semenyo is, he needs players to combine with.
I know that I will probably receive some backlash for this, but for me, Veljko is the better fit to play next to Senesi than Diakite. I think that he just looks like a better player. I know it’s early days, but Veljko really does look like a top prospect. I am yet to be fully sold on Diakate yet tbh. I think that he’s struggled a lot in a couple of games so far.
I get the point that you make about Kroupi and link-up play, but do we not have enough players to link play already? He’s a centre forward who can score out of absolutely nothing; they are like gold dust. He has to play too. Out of his four goals so far, the only one that Eva potentially scores out of those is the header at Palace.
Funny how football works sometimes. We spent £75m on two players to replace Solanke and Zabs, and the two kids that we bought for £23m combined look better! – To join the conversation, please click here.