Who doesn’t like marvellous Murillo Santiago Costa Dos Santos? If the rumours are to be believed, Forest’s Brazilian wonder boy will be off to a huge club for big, big money this summer as Murillo proves himself to be, yet again, a truly phenomenal player.
Barcelona and Real Madrid have been sniffing around marvellous Murillo whilst Newcastle are said to be very interested in Morgan Gibbs-White. It appears as if at least one of them will have to go to a big-spending club at the end of the season to enable Forest to balance the books.
With another huge game on the horizon, let’s hope that Marvelous Murillo will be as sharp as he was when he blunted the Blades.
Fortunate Forest
Marvellous Murillo has made more saves in front of goal this season than Matt Turner and, despite an excellent game from Matt Sels, Murillo kept The Blades at bay and helped save our blushes as Sheffield United piled on early pressure and went ahead through a Brereton-Diaz seventeenth-minute, first-half penalty.
A better team than Sheffield United would’ve taken the game out of sight after 45 minutes. Forest were very fortunate to win the game after being camped in their half for the majority of the first half. With spectacular saves from Sels and dramatic blocks and interceptions from marvellous Murillo, the game could’ve quite easily ended in an eleven-goal epic that swung in the favour of the home team.
Boly made a challenge on the ever-presence and very impressive Harmer for the third goal but Boly’s lack of pace left us quite vulnerable and deep at the back, often leaving Murillo to sweep up his leavings.
It was certainly a game of two halves as Sheffield United’s heads seemed to drop once the first goal went in but they were unlucky not to be 4-1 up before the break.
The sending-off didn’t have any impact on the game but, what is the deal with Anel Ahmedhodžić? Is he harbouring insecurities with regard to his first name? He seemed adamant about injuring someone and determined to get sent off: throwing his weight around like a child with an insecurity complex.
No Harmer to Marvellous Murillo
Going back to Brazilian-born Gustavo Harmer, like Murillo, he is a man of the tropics, and he is very comfortable on the ball and can pass a ball with sublime accuracy.
At only 5ft 7ins, Harmer is quick, well-balanced, and has a Maradona-esk control that allows him to create chances and hammer the opposition’s goal from any range or angle. Forest were lucky that his name didn’t appear on the score sheet.
Fortunately for Forest, they have marvellous Murillo at the back and Callum Hudson-Odoi on the left wing. Hudson-Odoi sat down Jayden Bogle more times than a dose of dysentery, as he weaved in from the left to hit two spectacular shots into the far corner of Sheffield’s net to strike up conceded goals number 98 and 100 for the season.
And this is my point: Sheffield United have leaked goals like Britain’s privatised water companies leak sewage, and the fact that Forest could still be relegated with this side means that Forest haven’t been that much better either.
It is over a century since a team leaked 100 goals in a season in the top flight of English football and, if Forest do get relegated, you’d be hard-pushed to defend them, especially after they have thrown away so many points from winning positions.
The goal-whore that is Sheffield United
I know that a team could potentially stay up due to a points deduction technicality and poor referring decisions – not football-based activity on the pitch – but, come on, if Forest can’t hold their own against Luton Town, Burnley, and the goal-whore that is Sheffield United, they deserve to go down.
I’m hoping that the situation will be sealed for us before the Chelsea game kicks off because I still think West Ham will beat Luton and Spurs won’t go all Spursy against Burnley – surely.
West Ham still have a lot to prove as Moyes signals his departure and Spurs are looking up the table at those European places.
I think West Ham will do the business at home, in their atmosphere-less stadium, as they will want to impress the new manager who will be watching from the director’s box and I reckon it could be a tough contest but they’ll scrape it by the odd goal.
Spurs on the other hand have suffered four consecutive defeats – for the first time since the Ottoman empire – and they will want to end their fan’s misery and suffering by giving them hope and a shot at Europe by redeeming themselves against a very beatable side.
All Forest have to do is not lose against Chelsea and Burnley.
Looking back, if Forest do get relegated over the next two games, we will say that either Luton Town or Burnley performed remarkably well in the end; overcoming the odds and refusing to roll over, like a reluctant Dignitas client.
Both Luton and Burnley will have to battle in the face of relegation by eventually winning when they have to; when it really matters.
Burnley will need to win two games on the bounce, against Spurs and ourselves to guarantee survival. Do you realise how ridiculous that sounds right now?
However, what is more believable is the possibility of Luton getting four points. I can see them beating Fulham at home on the last game of the season and they certainly have enough fight in them to get a draw against a wavering West Ham United.
According to the Premier League’s super computer, Forest only have a 7% chance of relegation which sounds awesome, right?
We have Marvellous Murillo…for now.
Interestingly, I have pegged the Forest V Chelsea home game as a draw since they beat them away at The Bridge, similar to last season’s 1-1 home tie. I know Chelsea have found some interesting form through the performances of Cole Palmer – everyone else around him has been as inconsistent as Forest – but we have marvellous Murillo at the back who will have a queue of suiters like the Old Trafford burger bar on matchday.
And, if it is a draw, Forest just about stays up. All Forest have to do now is not lose. COYR!
