Nottingham Forest 3 Spurs – Fulham 1 Forest – Wolves?
A crucial Tuesday night under the lights against Fulham and Morgan Gibbs-White got it right on the night.
Ever since his arrival in August 2022, we knew that Morgan Gibbs-White would bring us nights like these – Morgan Gibbs-White – Wikipedia. On two occasions, play from the halfway line involved just one other player teaming up with MGW to provide the kind of finish that was desperately missed at home to Crystal Palace, just a few days before.
For 45 minutes, Fulham were completely outplayed as Forest relentlessly pressed with goals coming from Hudson-Odoi, an in-form Chris Wood, and creative talisman, Morgan-Gibbs White.
It was a great team performance as Forest forced Marco Silva to make three unorthodox, first-half changes, but it was the Forest No.10 who was on another level with a thoroughly deserved man-of-the-match display of skill and mindful transition.
It took Morgan Gibbs-White just 45 minutes to destroy the opposition with his vision, composure, passing precision, and a finish that was so clinical that it should be contained in a secure laboratory and hung in a museum.
The Spurs and Fulham games are the epitome of Forest’s Season. Consistent teams gather the points to move up the table, qualify for Europe, gain momentum and maintain stability. Inconsistent teams play in relegation battles.
The Story of the Season
The story of the season has been more dramatic than Disney. It’s like a scene from Bambi: struggling to stand up on thin ice and losing important characters when you least expect it.
Every club has injury problems and Forest managed to exacerbate the issue by signing several players bound for the AFCON.
Part of the inconsistency is that Forest never seem to have a settled side. Even the substitutions have raised questions about Nuno’s intent.
The fleeting moments we have witnessed with Morgan Gibbs-White orchestrating the attacks have involved a mixture of players, including an in-form Chris Wood who now has the best shot conversion rate in Europe (Shot conversion rate at 39.3%).
Morgan Gibbs-White: cut from the same cloth.
Gibbs-White is going to be hard to replace. Morgan knows his numbers aren’t where he wants them to be – he is more aware than anyone. On occasions, the players around him have let him down. If Sangare could find form and support MGW better, and Origi and Elanga could be more clinical in front of goal, MGW’s stats would improve and mirror a winning formula.
When Cooper brought him in, it was clear that the attacks would revolve around him.
Clubs want and need players like Gibbs-White. He is on the cusp of stardom right now and his creative play counters an attack and moves balls quickly to quick wingers, out on the flanks.
James ‘Punchy’ Maddison is getting his England caps but MGW is still young and I’m sure he’ll become a better player than James Maddison; more creative, smarter, quicker and less likely to punch someone in the guts.
Callum Hudson-Odoi is cut from the same cloth as Morgan. They are both of the Phil Foden and Sancho generation and you’d expect MGW and CHO to reach that level of International majority with worldwide Adidas contracts, Champions League success with Galactico status, a men’s cosmetics advert, and crushing media condemnation following a World Cup defeat or an affair with a Mexican lap dancer.
Forest’s Inconsistency
Forest’s inconsistency hasn’t been determined by a lack of creativity or an ability to find the net – although there have been moments of missed chances – the problems have involved unsettled keepers and a lack of defensive focus; switching -off and slipping up in the last few minutes of the game. Over the last two seasons, Forest haven’t even won a game 3-2 but they have lost 3-2 on eight occasions!
We still don’t know the best defensive line-up. What happened to World Cup winner, Montiel? Murillo will leave for money and the appeal of Europe; Felipe is retiring, Tavares is still injured, and Boly’s legs have the instability of Sri Lanka’s economy.
Neco Williams has been a brilliant right-back fixture and I couldn’t hear myself saying that four months ago, even though I spoke of his potential and his consistency for Wales.
When we speak of players like Morgan, CHO, an impressive Neco Williams, Sangare, Elanaga, and the Brazilian due of Murillo and Danilo you can’t imagine a team that contains these players going down. Relegation doesn’t seem like a word associated with such quality.
You can’t say that Forest are too good to go down, because a team that gets related – regardless of the quality – deserves to go down because they have f#*%up along the way.
I know there have been subliminal biases from the officials but Wolves have also suffered at the hands of VAR and refs subconsciously favouring the opposition, but they will play in the Premier League again next season and Forest may not.
It’s all in Forest’s hands now, and this conveniently leads me to the Spurs game.
Why was the second-half performance against Spurs so poor?
Spurs were a better side than Forest and they didn’t need to be at their best to win, but Bournemouth was a better side than Luton and The Hatters showed the kind of determination you’d expect to see from a side on the wrong side of the relegation zone. Luton don’t need egos and expensive players to stay up, they just have a need to win.
I’m worried about what I’ve seen this season because you would have assumed that another slick performance from the Reds, with Morgan Gibbs-White finding the channels with quick, intricate passing to the flanks, would bring some points back to the City Ground.
However, the second-half performance at Spurs seemed like a mid-table team just playing out the season, avoiding injuries and conserving energy for a ‘more important’ clash.
Had Wood converted a second first-half chance, the dynamics of the game would’ve shifted and Forest would’ve most certainly come away with a point, surely. The Spurs fans were stunned, they were quiet, and we could’ve got at them in the second half. Instead, Forest backed off.
Maybe a second goal wasn’t enough. As we know, Forest are the masters of the 3-2 defeat and, given the fact that Spurs have defenders who can finish like Thierry Henry, on paper, the game had 3-2 written all over it if Forest had gone in with a 2-1 lead.
I don’t know if it was tactical or whether the players don’t have the tenacity and spirited fight in them, that clearly Luton have. With momentum, 2-1 up at half-time away to Tottenham Hotspur is a moment that may have changed the outcome of the season.
A Punchy Tottenham Performance
There could be no arguments about the team selection as we all agreed that the team that destroyed Fulham in forty-five minutes should’ve been given a chance to go again against Spurs. But should Nuno have made an early change like Spurs did?
At forty-five minutes, it looked optimistic, certainly for an unexpected point away in London. We didn’t do enough to counter the changes and Ryan Yates, who benefitted from lenient referring, should’ve given way to a very energetic Dominguez who we all know could have injected some Argentine passion into the game.
I don’t want to dismiss the Maddison punch but I’m as sick of the inconsistent matchday officials as much as I am of the Forest inconsistencies. Had it been the other way around, and Ryan had been sent off, I would’ve been screaming about corruption and conspiracies. It wasn’t really a punch, was it?
If that was a punch, James Maddison shouldn’t consider getting into bar brawls or car park altercations because it was pretty lame. It was the kind of punch you’d expect from Montgomery Burns in a Springfield charity boxing match.
Having said that, Sky showed Danilo’s tackle in more angles than a Terrence Malick film but the Maddison ‘punch’ was brushed off as a trivial altercation.
For me, the sheer fight and determination that I see in Luton means that Forest will need to beat Wolves, Sheffield United and Burnley, at least. Luton will push us to the last game of the season and our fate could be determined by goal difference.
The hailed 38-point target may be unachievable for quite a few clubs this season. Although I would feel more comfortable seeing Forest with 34 points, 30 points could be survivable in this year’s relegation battle.
Creative Retaliation – Morgan Gibbs-White Withdrawn.
For me, following on from his performance against Fulham, the Morgan Gibbs-White’s withdrawal against Spurs signalled that we had conceded; thrown the towel in. Yates needed to come off before he pushed the referee to a point of red-card return but MGW coming off left us without any hope of creative retaliation.
Forest didn’t react and I can’t speak with the same kind of fervour following the Fulham game. Instead, I can only speak of disappointment and concern for a side that appears to be inferior to Luton Town with regard to a natural survival instinct.
The worrying thought is that had Luton been able to replenish the side in the summer, they would’ve pushed much further up the table, especially with the way they have been playing. With better players, they certainly wouldn’t have lost to Sheffield United at home.
Luton have continued to fight and could’ve evolved with quality pre-season additions whilst Forest, on the other hand, are like alcoholic Pandas: consuming when it suits and apathetic about performing when it matters.
Let’s not forget, Fulham are on the beach, they have sustained Premier League survival for another season and they are now focusing on golf in Marbella, gambling in Monaco, bottles of Wadadli on the Caribbean yacht, and waxing the Ferrari. It’s all hog roasts and Playboy mansions for them.
Luton play Fulham at home on the last day of the season whilst Forest are away to Burnley, and it may come down to goal difference. Therefore, for the first time ever, I will be encouraging Manchester City to relentlessly thrash another team this weekend, as they face Luton at home.
Morgan Gibbs-White versus Wolves
Morgan Gibbs-White and Nuno face a Wolves team that they were once loyal to.
Wolves have also had VAR and injury problems and their form hasn’t been great, including a surprise defeat to Coventry in the F.A. Cup. They were predicted to be in the same relegation fight as Forest this season but they have done really well and, like Fulham, Wolves are safe.
Despite the injuries and a lack of form, Cunha is back for selection and he is always a threat, even if he’s not 100% fit.
The atmosphere will be tense, Forest must come out fighting – they must concentrate for the full 90 minutes – and must want to win more than anything. Let’s hope and pray that the team is ready and prepared for the game of their lives, as this weekend is a must-win.
I’m not using the term nonchalantly this time; I’m as serious as a terminal illness.
We’ve had previous games where we have said, “It’s not a must-win game, throwing a win away against Burnley at home doesn’t matter; drawing against Brentford isn’t necessarily a problem; we can afford to lose points at home to Crystal Palace and Luton…etc, etc.”
Apart from the second half, the first half against Fulham was Forest’s most complete game of football this season. This weekend, we are at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers, not at home to mediocrity.
Hopefully, Nuno can set the tone with a well-crafted selection. If Forest can replicate the first forty-five minutes against Fulham, stretch that performance over another forty-five minutes, take confidence from an early lead, and use pace and width, Forest can beat Wolves.
If Morgan Gibbs-White can replicate his Fulham performance, we will win – COYR!
Our Prediction: Forest 2 – Wolves 0.
