Luton Town - Nottingham Forest

[the jock]

i would say we have zero chance signing gayle. just cant see it happening and there is nothing to suggest with our previous transfers that we will.

would be great if we could shift some more players. send back muric and mir. and bring in proper quality.

[Mcforest]

Luton play a 4-1-2-1-2 formation so something a little different for Forest to deal with this weekend.
They are a team built to find space behind the midfield and defence and have had most success when a team plays a single defensive midfielder. They like to use the extra space which is created either side of the single midfielder and having a player sit in that role creates further space between the midfield and defence.

Without the ball Luton squash the midfielder and force teams to play longer direct balls to beat the defensive line. A risky strategy as the defence is not blessed with pace by they are very strong at dealing with high balls and will win the majority of aerial challenges and because of this play is broken down regularly if the team attacking them play with a slow tempo. They are also well drilled at keeping/holding the backline and will regularly catch teams off side. With Luton playing the tight midfield when defending they rely on teams making mistakes to retrieve the ball rather than go full blooded into tackles as they are not an aggressive team.

With the ball Luton are quick and skilful and will mostly look to break down their left hand side with the ball. We see the 1 player who plays behind the two attackers will always try to go and make a 2 on 1 situation against the fullbacks with one of the strikers. The other striker will hold their position centrally and look for one of the central defenders to go support the fullback thus creating more space for the striker to run into. Luton’s strikers are very clever and excellent at timing runs. I would also say in Collins they have a striker who likes to make space by “standing still” and going unnoticed until it’s to late.

Luton have two strikers who are inform and scoring goals at present so the defence cannot switch off or get pulled out the meet the ball in wide areas as it will give Luton the chances they are waiting for. Luton are strong at finishing chances when they are presented, in fact Luton so far this season has scored a cracking 21 goals in 14 games compared to our 17 in 13. Because of this goal scoring record they are very good at coming from behind to get results. Most Luton goals come from central shots inside the 18 yard box.

How do you get at them?

When defending it is going to be important that the wingers work with the full backs to stop the two 2v1 situations and they trap the play out wide rather than letting them come back into the central section of the pitch to build again. Luton have been a bit sloppy in games when trying to switch play from one side to another to create space, so if Forest can read the game well them should be able to step up onto the Luton pass to regain possession. We have also seen that trapping them out wide has resulted in them running the ball out of play more often than them crossing the ball. The central defenders will need to stay very disciplined and not get caught going to wide areas as the strikers will want the 1v1 that this creates centrally.

When attacking Luton it has to be fast and it has to be counter attacking as soon as the ball is turned over, Forest must not let them get their shape back. Luton work on a position first, defender later tactic and it works well against slow build up play as reduces space, but if the ball is move up front quickly they do struggle to cope close the correct space. As Luton give away space, at first, when defending, as they are getting back into their zonal marking positions, this has resulted in an increase in opportunities for long rang efforts against them.

Despite the defence being good at defending high balls going in behind them they have shown themselves to be very weak and sloppy when marking from free kicks and corners and are not quick to respond to the knock down 2nd balls in their area.

Match predictions:

Do not think this will be an easy game but Luton play like Birmingham and we have seen what we can do when we are on it with teams than defend zonal area first rather than the ball so I am thinking we should win this 2-3.

[the jock]

have watched them a few times this season. technically poor but playing us at the right time in November.

they beat bristol 3-0

[the jock]

was going to go to this but unfortunately not able now. the Leaside hotel nearby is decent if anybody looking to stay the night.

[Strawberry Avenger]

Without Sow (the pivotal catalyst of Forest's transformation to a joint top side) and Dawson (his leadership in the defence is a massive loss)...and perhaps Semedo. Forest don't seem the same side.

Even not having Rib' at LB has affected things. Jack has been advanced in his play a couple of times that have led to goals scored against Forest.

The injury hoodoo has struck again.

Luton. Just another of the recent sides Forest struggle against without the players to do the job. They're nothing special. But neither were Wigan and Hull.

Forest don't seem as powerful and athletic in midfield without Sow. And that, for me, is where the recent games have been lost.

SA.

[PsychoStanleyStone]

was going to go to this but unfortunately not able now. the Leaside hotel nearby is decent if anybody looking to stay the night.

the Linton Hotel is quite good, it's a mile or so away but there is a bus stop outside and walking distance from town, it's a new and boutique italian design, small but very cosy bedrooms, it is all very new, good shower, tv, wifi, good parking.  The bar and restaurant facilities are also very good with Sky TV.  It is on the more pleasent/leafy almost pretty side of town, i've stayed there a few times.  The owners daughter even gave me a glass of champagne, she is the vision behind it all, basically she has put a huge effort in.
there quite a few big and souless hotels near the airport but just don't appeal to me.  Around £50 a night, if you phone up direct you can probably get a few quid off.  The hotel is sound proofed but sitting outside having a beer and a cig, you can get a plane about 5ft above your head every 5 or 10 minutes but that goes for most of Luton and the undercarriage of an aircraft, even the rustiest, ugliest and loudest is more pleasent than looking at most of the sights and sounds of Luton.

[Sniffer Dog (Admin)]

The only good thing in Luton is the road out of it.

[Jacksbadhobbits]

Happy to try and consolidate top six, stay there until January and then see how ambitious the owner really is.

We shouldn't be doubting that mate.

can’t prove something until it exists unfortunately. 

I’m not yet convinced personally. 

if we have another January of signing the likes of Pele, Bonatini, etc and then everyone saying that January isn’t the best time to make signings, then it’s probably valid for it to be questionable. 

if we sign Gayle, Woods and Maddison then ambition can’t be questioned.
What about Collback. I think we have missed him last few weeks.

[Paplane]

Happy to try and consolidate top six, stay there until January and then see how ambitious the owner really is.

We shouldn't be doubting that mate.

can’t prove something until it exists unfortunately. 

I’m not yet convinced personally. 

if we have another January of signing the likes of Pele, Bonatini, etc and then everyone saying that January isn’t the best time to make signings, then it’s probably valid for it to be questionable. 

if we sign Gayle, Woods and Maddison then ambition can’t be questioned.
What about Collback. I think we have missed him last few weeks.

Would love to see Colback back. 
Depends on how Sow is getting on with his injury and how Yates can perform in Sabri's team.

[Duncan Mckenzie]

Happy to try and consolidate top six, stay there until January and then see how ambitious the owner really is.

We shouldn't be doubting that mate.

can’t prove something until it exists unfortunately. 

I’m not yet convinced personally. 

if we have another January of signing the likes of Pele, Bonatini, etc and then everyone saying that January isn’t the best time to make signings, then it’s probably valid for it to be questionable. 

if we sign Gayle, Woods and Maddison then ambition can’t be questioned.
What about Collback. I think we have missed him last few weeks.

There will be mistakes along the way but anyone who is questioning the ambition of Evangelos Marinakis is way off the mark.

[the jock]

i think colback would be a great signing in this side.

1-2 strikers surely a priority though.

[Username]

Happy to try and consolidate top six, stay there until January and then see how ambitious the owner really is.

We shouldn't be doubting that mate.

can’t prove something until it exists unfortunately. 

I’m not yet convinced personally. 

if we have another January of signing the likes of Pele, Bonatini, etc and then everyone saying that January isn’t the best time to make signings, then it’s probably valid for it to be questionable. 

if we sign Gayle, Woods and Maddison then ambition can’t be questioned.
What about Collback. I think we have missed him last few weeks.

There will be mistakes along the way but anyone who is questioning the ambition of Evangelos Marinakis is way off the mark.

I still have doubts, talk is cheap - pretty much every Chairman in the football league wants promotion/ progression. 


you’ve said yourself that you weren’t convinced by how much was reportedly spent on Carvalho and most of the incomings have been funded by the sales of Brereton etc. 

I don’t doubt that Marinakis wants promotion but I’ll have a better idea in January as to at what cost.