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Nottingham Forest (H) Sat 15:00 - What Can We Expect?


Davefevs

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So, big game ahead....6th v 5th....but in the Championship every game is a big game.  With City players returning from injuries, LJ is gonna have some tough decisions on who to start, who sits on the bench, and who doesn’t get kitted up at all.

Our Opponents:

Forest sit in 5th peace, one above us, with a game in hand following a postponement versus Reading a few games back.  They are managed by Sabri Lamouchi, the Frenchman, formerly of Stade Rennais and Ivory Coast.  As a player he had a distinguished career at the likes of Monaco, Parma, Inter and Marseille, as well as a dozen French caps (berets?).  In terms of form, they have W2 L2 in their last 4 games, having previously only lost once, on the opening day.  Their away record is the same as ours.

A54A271D-C943-4D76-BCB8-161F241075F2.thumb.jpeg.2c85616cdd0beae8de29b5ebe331f614.jpeg

How Do They Line-up:

Pretty much a bog-standard 4231.

F817B920-B80F-4319-9AC3-4F8BC406B36F.thumb.jpeg.0e70a12ad497781dcee2c4ba5b971156.jpeg

Ignore Ameobi and Lolley, Transfermarkt often gets the widemen the wrong way around, although these two do swap sides.  Similarly Worrall will typically play left side of Figueiredo.  The core of the team above are regulars, with the odd swap here and there.

The Players:

GK - Brice Samba (25) - Congo born, French (u19) stopper, signed from Caen in the summer for £1.9m.  A big old unit, who’s impressed me when I’ve seen him on Sky / Quest highlights.  Got the knack of keeping the ball out the bet, if sometimes looking a bit cumbersome. 4 clean sheets in 11 starts.

RB: Matty Cash (22) - Forest youngster who’s progressed through the ranks.  Lamouchi has converted him to RB, and in the modern game his experience as an attacking midfielder means he is a threat in the opponent’s final third.  Got an eye for a goal too, often long distance shots.

LB: Yuri Ribeiro (22) - Portugese u21 full-back, signed from Benfica in the summer for an undisclosed fee.  Primarily a Benfica B player having not made a league appearance for the A side.  Likes to get forward, and has a competitive streak to him.  Nice left peg too.

CB: Tobias Figuereido (25) - ex-Portugese u21 CB and B international, signed from Sporting in the summer of 2018 for £2m.  Only just forced his way back into the team, and prefers to be the cover rather than the attacking CB.

CB: Joe Worrall (22) - local lad who’s had loans at Dagenham and G.Rangers before becoming first choice this season.  Big, strong lad, who looks a leader, and is the one who likes to attack the ball on the deck and in the air.  Good player.

DM: Ben Watson (34) - very experienced midfielder who won an FA Cup winners medal with Wigan (scoring the winner too).  Palace, Wigan, QPR and Watford on his CV, with close to 150 apps in the Premier League.  Important to Forest in winning the ball back, and always available for the simple pass.  The kind of player every team needs.

DM: Ryan Yates (22) - another Nottingham lad in the squad.  Started a few games this season and a big lad, who doesn’t seem afraid to leave his mark.  Likes to get forward.

CM: Tiago Silva (26) - and now another Portugese player!  Signed from Feirense in the summer for an undisclosed fee.  Featured in every game this season but only two assists is a poor return for a very talented technician who plays in a similar vain to Ruben Neves. A lot of Portugese top flight experience, and his goals record there suggests there is more to come.

RW: Joe Lolley (27) - not the usual route into pro football for this player, having been released by Brum and embarked on further education, eventually finding himself at Kidderminster, before hitting the bigger time at Huddersfield, where he was linked with City.  Got a very good left foot, and not afraid to shoot, often cutting in from the right.  Works well with Cash, and not just from a pun point of view!

LW: Sammy Ameobi (27) - younger brother of Carl Cort (old Bobby Robson joke re Shola!!) who also started at Newcastle.  Probably had his best form at Bolton, before arriving in Notts on a free in the summer.  Can be a bit ungainly looking, but a player who has a lot of skill and long stride to nick the ball away from defenders.  Got a good left foot on him, as some of you may remember.  My Dangerman tomorrow.

CF: Lewis Grabban (31) - the oldest player is a young team, who appeared to have the life of a journeyman in Lg1/2, before his career took off, and big money moves from Bournemouth, Norwich and loans to Sunderland and Villa, before arriving at Forest in the summer for £6m. Top scorer with 7 goals this season, and a real threat inside the box.

Other Players of Note:

Costos Pantillimon - giant, but erratic keeper

Jack Robinson - ex-Liverpool and QPR LB / LCB

Joao Carvalho - tricky Portugese forward

and....

Albert Adomah - must loved by City fans, who’s maybe at the back-end of his career, but loves City back.  He will definitely get a round if applause tomorrow.

How Do We Win:

Although systems are likely to be different, I see a lot of similarities between City and Forest.  Both have young squads, both play in red’s’ white, both are obsessed by possession.  For me it’s about keeping their front 3 (Grabban, Lolley and Ameobi) away from our box.  If we can keep Lolley and Ameobi wide, we will nullify a lot of their threat.  They like to come inside, especially on the break / in transition and if we can limit that, I don’t see goal threat from Silva, Yates or Watson in general play.  :laugh: let’s delivery on set plays will need to be watched.

In terms of City, then I think it is about exposing Forest down the sides of Worrall and Figuereio, especially when Cash and Ribeiro are caught forward.  Both teams more suited to playing in transition, which could lead to an entertaining game.

Prediction:

I see to many similarities to look beyond a draw (1-1).  Should we be able to grab the 3 points then would be great momentum on the back of Cardiff.

 

 

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8 minutes ago, phantom said:

Was he not the guy that came on for Cardiff against us a few seasons back that missed the sitter in the last minute?

He was, but if I recall correctly he was a nuisance when he was on and was unlucky not to score earlier. He also performed very well for Bolton in our 2-0 defeat against them a couple of seasons ago. Just one of those players who has not seemed to live up to the hype but certainly bloody chooses to do so when he plays against us

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4 hours ago, Davefevs said:

So, big game ahead....6th v 5th....but in the Championship every game is a big game.  With City players returning from injuries, LJ is gonna have some tough decisions on who to start, who sits on the bench, and who doesn’t get kitted up at all.

Our Opponents:

Forest sit in 5th peace, one above us, with a game in hand following a postponement versus Reading a few games back.  They are managed by Sabri Lamouchi, the Frenchman, formerly of Stade Rennais and Ivory Coast.  As a player he had a distinguished career at the likes of Monaco, Parma, Inter and Marseille, as well as a dozen French caps (berets?).  In terms of form, they have W2 L2 in their last 4 games, having previously only lost once, on the opening day.  Their away record is the same as ours.

* deleted text*

Cheers Dave, always enjoy your detailed reports and information; considering you're under no obligation to do this, (unless OTIB pays you a salary) it's bloody good of you to take the time.

Also, I don't tend to pay much attention to other team's squads, thus I had no idea Adomah was at Forest, so cheers for the info!

I reckon City will win 2-1 and I've been musing today that Diedhiou will be on fine goal-scoring form following his break with us and the confidence taken from his international hat trick.

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16 minutes ago, reddogkev said:

Cheers Dave, always enjoy your detailed reports and information; considering you're under no obligation to do this, (unless OTIB pays you a salary) it's bloody good of you to take the time.

Also, I don't tend to pay much attention to other team's squads, thus I had no idea Adomah was at Forest, so cheers for the info!

I reckon City will win 2-1 and I've been musing today that Diedhiou will be on fine goal-scoring form following his break with us and the confidence taken from his international hat trick.

Thanks RDK.  I enjoy doing them, so no hassle.  

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4 hours ago, Newquay-Red said:

He was, but if I recall correctly he was a nuisance when he was on and was unlucky not to score earlier. He also performed very well for Bolton in our 2-0 defeat against them a couple of seasons ago. Just one of those players who has not seemed to live up to the hype but certainly bloody chooses to do so when he plays against us

I think it's just that he's not fashionable. Certainly as you say he's played well against us, and I've been quite impressed with his abilitywhenever I've seen him play. I sometimes wonder why we've never gone in for him - good enough to have in the bag as an option at this level.

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Nicely done again @Davefevs , all things point to a close game ( cue 4-0 home win ). We both have better away form, than home, which may be a concern. Where I think we have reason for optimism is returning players. Nagy may have got taken off the other night, but I look on that as a plus. Decent run out , but also not a full 90. I think Kalas got a run out, HNM got some games and Fam missed a Pen ( Daily Mail headline?) , and also scored a hat trick. The one worry is Bentley, unless his MRs decides she's not ready to have the baby just yet. That said, I'm more than happy with Maenpaa , then we have to hope LJ has a cunning plan .
Hope this doesn't go the way of so many 'big' games over the years, which have tended to end as a bit of a damp squib . This could really be a marker for our season, a good solid win and we could really set ourselves up for a real challenge.

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Pic1

Some great insight here from Forest Boffin on Twitter, matching some of the things in my OP, like not being reliant on possession,  liking to play in-transition, etc.  Similarities with City’s philosophy of not wanting to be exposed centrally (in our case, forcing the ball wide, and Lolley/Ameobi wide too), which is something I’ve mentioned a lot this season with the back 3/5, since the Derby away game, when I spotted the intention.

Pic 2

I will be looking out for their Grabban-press (not Gegen-press ?) tomorrow....pic 2.  Will be looking if we do similar.  It’s certainly very different to the Reid / Pato press we saw in 17/18.

Pic 3

Mention of Yates’s aggressive nature matches what I saw too.  Maybe this will be less effective against our back 3/5, although the reference to Bielik, might make the ball player Taylor Moore a better option than Nathan Baker tomorrow.

Pic 1

14D2BC45-9522-4C83-B634-EF8899E05154.thumb.jpeg.7bccdf3e8b4082fd54c34d7042988ac5.jpeg
 

Pic 2

5998A2E3-7983-4512-AFDC-9768C91837DA.thumb.jpeg.5c942de07ced20767932080b13f1b4c4.jpeg
 

Pic 3

B36E7BDC-AA6F-4D04-AFAC-C6DE7B4903FC.thumb.jpeg.24c1be85968fce04b287d8264701ae0a.jpeg

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I know age is just a number, but with O'Dowda picking up the ball in the middle of the pitch and driving through the middle with pace, surely Ben Watson may struggle. He's 34.

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19 hours ago, Davefevs said:

So, big game ahead....6th v 5th....but in the Championship every game is a big game.  With City players returning from injuries, LJ is gonna have some tough decisions on who to start, who sits on the bench, and who doesn’t get kitted up at all.

Our Opponents:

Forest sit in 5th peace, one above us, with a game in hand following a postponement versus Reading a few games back.  They are managed by Sabri Lamouchi, the Frenchman, formerly of Stade Rennais and Ivory Coast.  As a player he had a distinguished career at the likes of Monaco, Parma, Inter and Marseille, as well as a dozen French caps (berets?).  In terms of form, they have W2 L2 in their last 4 games, having previously only lost once, on the opening day.  Their away record is the same as ours.

A54A271D-C943-4D76-BCB8-161F241075F2.thumb.jpeg.2c85616cdd0beae8de29b5ebe331f614.jpeg

How Do They Line-up:

Pretty much a bog-standard 4231.

F817B920-B80F-4319-9AC3-4F8BC406B36F.thumb.jpeg.0e70a12ad497781dcee2c4ba5b971156.jpeg

Ignore Ameobi and Lolley, Transfermarkt often gets the widemen the wrong way around, although these two do swap sides.  Similarly Worrall will typically play left side of Figueiredo.  The core of the team above are regulars, with the odd swap here and there.

The Players:

GK - Brice Samba (25) - Congo born, French (u19) stopper, signed from Caen in the summer for £1.9m.  A big old unit, who’s impressed me when I’ve seen him on Sky / Quest highlights.  Got the knack of keeping the ball out the bet, if sometimes looking a bit cumbersome. 4 clean sheets in 11 starts.

RB: Matty Cash (22) - Forest youngster who’s progressed through the ranks.  Lamouchi has converted him to RB, and in the modern game his experience as an attacking midfielder means he is a threat in the opponent’s final third.  Got an eye for a goal too, often long distance shots.

LB: Yuri Ribeiro (22) - Portugese u21 full-back, signed from Benfica in the summer for an undisclosed fee.  Primarily a Benfica B player having not made a league appearance for the A side.  Likes to get forward, and has a competitive streak to him.  Nice left peg too.

CB: Tobias Figuereido (25) - ex-Portugese u21 CB and B international, signed from Sporting in the summer of 2018 for £2m.  Only just forced his way back into the team, and prefers to be the cover rather than the attacking CB.

CB: Joe Worrall (22) - local lad who’s had loans at Dagenham and G.Rangers before becoming first choice this season.  Big, strong lad, who looks a leader, and is the one who likes to attack the ball on the deck and in the air.  Good player.

DM: Ben Watson (34) - very experienced midfielder who won an FA Cup winners medal with Wigan (scoring the winner too).  Palace, Wigan, QPR and Watford on his CV, with close to 150 apps in the Premier League.  Important to Forest in winning the ball back, and always available for the simple pass.  The kind of player every team needs.

DM: Ryan Yates (22) - another Nottingham lad in the squad.  Started a few games this season and a big lad, who doesn’t seem afraid to leave his mark.  Likes to get forward.

CM: Tiago Silva (26) - and now another Portugese player!  Signed from Feirense in the summer for an undisclosed fee.  Featured in every game this season but only two assists is a poor return for a very talented technician who plays in a similar vain to Ruben Neves. A lot of Portugese top flight experience, and his goals record there suggests there is more to come.

RW: Joe Lolley (27) - not the usual route into pro football for this player, having been released by Brum and embarked on further education, eventually finding himself at Kidderminster, before hitting the bigger time at Huddersfield, where he was linked with City.  Got a very good left foot, and not afraid to shoot, often cutting in from the right.  Works well with Cash, and not just from a pun point of view!

LW: Sammy Ameobi (27) - younger brother of Carl Cort (old Bobby Robson joke re Shola!!) who also started at Newcastle.  Probably had his best form at Bolton, before arriving in Notts on a free in the summer.  Can be a bit ungainly looking, but a player who has a lot of skill and long stride to nick the ball away from defenders.  Got a good left foot on him, as some of you may remember.  My Dangerman tomorrow.

CF: Lewis Grabban (31) - the oldest player is a young team, who appeared to have the life of a journeyman in Lg1/2, before his career took off, and big money moves from Bournemouth, Norwich and loans to Sunderland and Villa, before arriving at Forest in the summer for £6m. Top scorer with 7 goals this season, and a real threat inside the box.

Other Players of Note:

Costos Pantillimon - giant, but erratic keeper

Jack Robinson - ex-Liverpool and QPR LB / LCB

Joao Carvalho - tricky Portugese forward

and....

Albert Adomah - must loved by City fans, who’s maybe at the back-end of his career, but loves City back.  He will definitely get a round if applause tomorrow.

How Do We Win:

Although systems are likely to be different, I see a lot of similarities between City and Forest.  Both have young squads, both play in red’s’ white, both are obsessed by possession.  For me it’s about keeping their front 3 (Grabban, Lolley and Ameobi) away from our box.  If we can keep Lolley and Ameobi wide, we will nullify a lot of their threat.  They like to come inside, especially on the break / in transition and if we can limit that, I don’t see goal threat from Silva, Yates or Watson in general play. :laugh: let’s delivery on set plays will need to be watched.

In terms of City, then I think it is about exposing Forest down the sides of Worrall and Figuereio, especially when Cash and Ribeiro are caught forward.  Both teams more suited to playing in transition, which could lead to an entertaining game.

Prediction:

I see to many similarities to look beyond a draw (1-1).  Should we be able to grab the 3 points then would be great momentum on the back of Cardiff.

 

 

They look a well balanced outfit.

Would start with Palmer's passing today trying to utilize space in behind when they push.

Tough afternoon & would take a draw now.

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2 hours ago, Robert the bruce said:

They look a well balanced outfit.

Would start with Palmer's passing today trying to utilize space in behind when they push.

Tough afternoon & would take a draw now.

Like a lot of teams in the Championship, capable of winking on their day. The ones at the top of the table just have their day more often.

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