Elliot Anderson is one of the best players in the Nottingham Forest dressing room, but there is a flaw in his game that Vitor Pereira needs to fix.
Forest lost 1-0 to Liverpool on Sunday, with Alexis Mac Allister scoring a 97th-minute winner to stun the City Ground into a chilling silence.
Who was your Nottingham Forest Man of the Match vs Liverpool?
Igor Jesus missed a couple of good chances during the contest, with Callum Hudson-Odoi and Anderson both having solid efforts blocked by a dogged Liverpool team.
During the game, Vitor Pereira tried to make the substitutes to impact the performance in Forest’s favour, and when it comes to Anderson, there is a bit of a conundrum for him to crack now.
Nottingham Forest v Liverpool - Premier League
Photo by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Vitor Pereira has Elliot Anderson issue to fix
In the 77th minute of the 1-0 defeat to Liverpool, Anderson’s number came up on the board and it’s fair to say that the England star looked thoroughly frustrated.
It’s rare that Anderson is substituted and on this occasion he clearly wasn’t happy with either his performance or the decision to withdraw him for Nicolas Dominguez.
Pereira admitted afterwards that he needs his midfield to be fresh for 90 minutes and clearly that was the reasoning behind the decision to take Anderson off.
MORE FOREST STORIES
After he starred in Europe against Fenerbahce on Thursday, clearly this game came a little bit too soon for him in terms of playing another 90 minutes and that is a problem to a certain degree.
Anderson kicked a water bottle in frustration and was then spotted getting quite angry with the seats in the dugout as he popped his substitute jacket on and sat with his teammates.
Anderson needs resting on Thursday
It’s a balancing act when playing in European competition and on Thursday night, Forest have to weigh up whether they think a 3-0 lead from the first leg is pretty much game, set and match.
With Brighton and Manchester City to play away from home shortly afterwards, the Reds need to make sure they can go into every game with a fresh eleven if possible.
Anderson is so important to Forest and after telling fans to stick with the players after the Wolves game, it’s important that he keeps his head and doesn’t start moping around the place!
His reaction to being substituted yesterday was a little bit unprofessional and now the challenge for Pereira is to get him back playing positively and completing 90 minutes to help Forest pick up more wins.
Join Our Newsletter
Receive a digest of our best Nottingham Forest content each week direct to your mailbox