Nottingham Forest - Aston Villa

[tugger2018]

Did anyone see the size of Aurier thighs when he took his bandages off he is a beast made psychos thighs look anerexic

[Redreg]

Mckenna Was class , Cook still looked very slow would love Niakhate next to Mckenna that would help defensively allowing us to play Mangala or O’Brien instead of Kouyate. The amount of times Kouyate was 10 yards off his man was worrying and he received the ball a few times and could of carried us up the pitch instead he made a poor pass . We need 1 of our midfield 3 who can carry the ball up the pitch and pick a pass like JG did last season . Brennan is crying out for it Although i do think he could angle his runs inside a bit more .

[Redreg]

Thought we played ok.

Hendo’s kicking was S**t.

Toff and Aurier did ok. Pleased for Cook and McKenna, probably the most solid they’ve looked all season.

Kouyate is a cracking player, glad that Cooper see’s it too and Yates looked much more mobile tonight. Still can’t really see what Freuler brings though.

MGW put in some hard yards and Dennis took his only real chance.

Neco was dreadful

Thats why football is about opinions because i thought Kouyate was terrible offered nothing going forward and defensively 10 yards away from a man .
Frueler was Class , closed down the spaces tracked his man and constantly picked the ball up from the back 4 and got us moving with some quality passing kept everything ticking over .

[ozzyten10]

Kouyate was OK last night and much more disciplined. We were playing a low block and he was triggering a press. It was well drilled and nullified both coutinho and buendia. Credit to the full backs too. Much more conservative and covered the centre halves well. Aurier is a walking red card though!

Villa played a box formation and tried to play very methodically but safe football. We were set up as the away side.

MGW had his best game and bust a fit to keep cash quiet who in turn was Villas best player.

[zicorice]

Watched game back before commenting as lots of contrasting opinions on some of our central players.

Re Kouyate. I got frustrated at times as he constantly marks space and I've yet to see space score a goal. However being a unit, nobody really took him on and his mere presence (usually 5-10 yards from ball carrier) was invariably enough to persuade Villa player to pass backwards or sideways. That may have been the plan, who knows, but he struggled again in possession.

MGW is currently a proper "nearly man".

Anyway.

Positives:
- Stopped the rot.
- Both CBs were immense. (They needed to be).
- Freuler finally started looked like the player we hoped he would be.
- Toff did OK.
- Yates was superb.
- We didn't crumble after conceding.
- Hendo dominated his area.
- Lovely header for goal.
- Off the bottom.

Negatives;
- Rarely looked like winning.
- Hendos kicking was off.
- Yet another long range goal.

Hopefully a bit less chopping and changing for Saturday now. Would be lovely to win at Wolves  but Id take a point against.

[ozzyten10]

Good summary

[McDurban]

Watched game back before commenting as lots of contrasting opinions on some of our central players.

Re Kouyate. I got frustrated at times as he constantly marks space and I've yet to see space score a goal. However  being a unit, nobody really took him on and his mere presence (usually 5-10 yards from ball carrier) was invariably enough to persuade Villa player to pass backwards or sideways.  That may have been the plan, who knows, but he struggled again in possession.

MGW is currently a proper "nearly man".

Anyway.

Positives:
- Stopped the rot.
- Both CBs were immense. (They needed to be).
- Freuler finally started looked like the player we hoped he would be.
- Toff did OK.
- Yates was superb.
- We didn't crumble after conceding.
- Hendo dominated his area.
- Lovely header for goal.
- Off the bottom.

Negatives;
- Rarely looked like winning.
- Hendos kicking was off.
- Yet another long range goal.

Hopefully a bit less chopping and changing for Saturday now. Would be lovely to win at Wolves  but Id take a point against.

This. Start with the same XI on Saturday, they got a point, now let them continue to learn & grow together.

[RyanR]

Watched game back before commenting as lots of contrasting opinions on some of our central players.

Re Kouyate. I got frustrated at times as he constantly marks space and I've yet to see space score a goal. However  being a unit, nobody really took him on and his mere presence (usually 5-10 yards from ball carrier) was invariably enough to persuade Villa player to pass backwards or sideways.  That may have been the plan, who knows, but he struggled again in possession.

MGW is currently a proper "nearly man".

Anyway.

Positives:
- Stopped the rot.
- Both CBs were immense. (They needed to be).
- Freuler finally started looked like the player we hoped he would be.
- Toff did OK.
- Yates was superb.
- We didn't crumble after conceding.
- Hendo dominated his area.
- Lovely header for goal.
- Off the bottom.

Negatives;
- Rarely looked like winning.
- Hendos kicking was off.
- Yet another long range goal.

Hopefully a bit less chopping and changing for Saturday now. Would be lovely to win at Wolves  but Id take a point against.

This. Start with the same XI on Saturday, they got a point, now let them continue to learn & grow together.

I think Cooper will think the same. We might have better players on the bench, but we need to start developing cohesion and understanding between the players on the pitch. Starting the same 11 will hopefully keep that going. Plus, Cooper clearly trusts the players that started to follow the game plan. Let’s hope we can see it through to a win against Wolves.

[Paplane]

Watched game back before commenting as lots of contrasting opinions on some of our central players.

Re Kouyate. I got frustrated at times as he constantly marks space and I've yet to see space score a goal. However  being a unit, nobody really took him on and his mere presence (usually 5-10 yards from ball carrier) was invariably enough to persuade Villa player to pass backwards or sideways.  That may have been the plan, who knows, but he struggled again in possession.

MGW is currently a proper "nearly man".

Anyway.

Positives:
- Stopped the rot.
- Both CBs were immense. (They needed to be).
- Freuler finally started looked like the player we hoped he would be.
- Toff did OK.
- Yates was superb.
- We didn't crumble after conceding.
- Hendo dominated his area.
- Lovely header for goal.
- Off the bottom.

Negatives;
- Rarely looked like winning.
- Hendos kicking was off.
- Yet another long range goal.

Hopefully a bit less chopping and changing for Saturday now. Would be lovely to win at Wolves  but Id take a point against.

This. Start with the same XI on Saturday, they got a point, now let them continue to learn & grow together.

I think Cooper will think the same. We might have better players on the bench, but we need to start developing cohesion and understanding between the players on the pitch. Starting the same 11 will hopefully keep that going. Plus, Cooper clearly trusts the players that started to follow the game plan. Let’s hope we can see it through to a win against Wolves.

Totally. As you say, on paper there may be better options out of the team but we need to stick with a dependable 11/12 now and take it from there. The squad players then need to force their way in or cover injuries.

[Salvatore Matrecano]

Agree, we all write in the match thread who we think is our strongest combination but the reality is it needs to be an 11 who will stick to a plan, look to grind out a draw and not panic if we concede.

[Paplane]

Agree, we all write in the match thread who we think is our strongest combination but the reality is it needs to be an 11 who will stick to a plan, look to grind out a draw and not panic if we concede.

Yep, sticking to the plan is key. If Cooper can put out an 11 who can provide a level of dependability, ie the players are doing what they're asked to do, then we can build from here.  It's like back to basics. Go out with the prime aim of not being beaten. Then progress from there.

[DR Forest]

Interestingly
Cooper started with 4 players from last year, and 4 who cost nowt or next to nowt.
The only 3 new signings who cost £ were Freuler, MGW and Dennis.

Thats a lot of investment on the bench or not even in the squad.

Freuler motm btw.
Reminded me of McGovern doing the little things that are so important but always gets overlooked.