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What Nuno said after Arsenal defeat sums up Nottingham Forest challenge as key duo missed
Nuno Espirito Santo offered a rather blunt assessment of Nottingham Forest’s defeat to Arsenal.
The Reds head coach had cut a relatively animated figure on the Emirates touchline at times as he watched a 3-0 thumping unfold. And his frustrations were equally clear when he faced the media after the full-time whistle.
His team, Nuno said, had “come up short”. He repeated the point more than once for added emphasis. He admitted to being "worried" over six goals conceded in the space of two games. And he underlined how there is “a lot of work to do” to put things right.
There is no disgrace in losing away to the Gunners - especially not when it is the first time you have been beaten on the road this season. Falling to back-to-back defeats is no reason to panic either - not when Newcastle United and Arsenal are the opponents. It has still been a very good start to the campaign for the Reds. The last couple of games take nothing away from that.
But the manner of Saturday’s loss will be what really irks Nuno. In their last two matches, Forest have not necessarily helped themselves; they have been off the pace. We've taken a look at some of the big talking points from the game...
Defensive frailty
Having a solid foundation in place is always the starting point for Nuno. It is why a lot of work was put in on the training ground over the summer with the aim of tightening up what had been a porous back line.
Up until a fortnight ago, Forest had conceded a measly seven goals in nine Premier League outings. They had one of the meanest defences in the division. All of a sudden they have now shipped six in two, with three each against Arsenal and the Magpies - and against the former, it could have been more.
"On a day like this you need to be solid defensively and take your chances,” James Ward-Prowse told Sky Sports (via the BBC) afterwards. “Ultimately it was not good enough and it was three relatively easy goals for them. We are going to have to improve our defensive structure."
Where the visitors went wrong was in not doing the basics while also affording high-quality players too much time and space - they forgot what they had been good at. Bukayo Saka was allowed to drift across the area without being challenged before he fired in the first. Thomas Partey had acres of room to pick his spot for the second.
The defeat wasn’t all on the defence or on goalkeeper Matz Sels, either. More help and protection was needed from their teammates. The midfield struggled to get a grip on proceedings and the full-backs didn’t get too much by way of cover from the wingers.
At set-pieces, too, Forest looked wobbly - and that is an area they have worked particularly hard to address given it was their Achilles’ heel last term. The calibre of the opposition should, of course, be taken into account, but Nuno was not happy with “a lot of bad things” defensively.
Key absentees
This had the makings of being a tough fixture regardless, but the Reds then found themselves going into it without two of their best players. And their top scorer was on the bench.
Being without Morgan Gibbs-White and Elliot Anderson due to injury was a blow for the visitors. Chris Wood was in the unusual position of being among the substitutes after racking up the air miles on duty for New Zealand.
Taiwo Awoniyi did not do a bad job up front in place of Wood and will benefit from having had valuable minutes, but he got absolutely no service. He barely even had scraps to feed off. Wood didn’t exactly offer much, either, when he came on - which said a lot.
That is where Gibbs-White or Anderson might have come in. Both can pick a pass and have that special ability to unlock defences. As it was, the visitors lacked a creative spark.
Forest have coped without Gibbs-White before. They picked up wins over Crystal Palace and Leicester City without him, but that was when they had Anderson to step into the No 10 role.
Nuno refused to use being without the duo as an excuse. “Even though important players were out, I think we have solutions in the squad to give better answers,” he said.
He is right, there should still have been plenty of attacking threat in the ranks. Gibbs-White or Anderson might not have made any difference to the final outcome, but they might have been able to help the visitors at least lay a glove on their hosts, given they finished the game without a shot on target.
Tough run
Forest were unbeaten in seven away matches prior to this one - a superb streak stretching back to the final weeks of last season. But that run always looked like coming under threat with some very tough fixtures in November and December.
The fixture computer was not kind when it put this particular sequence together. This always looked like being a difficult period to navigate. A double-header in Manchester, taking on City and United in successive outings, is just around the corner.
Away games haven’t held the same fear for the Reds this term. It is why there was talk among some prior to kick-off on Saturday that the visitors might have held hopes of getting a result.
That relied upon Nuno’s men turning up, though. And they didn’t really do that. Few players gave a good account of themselves.
It was almost akin to a version of Forest from seasons past. The version where travel sickness dogged them and they gave hosts too much respect. It was like stepping back in time to the past couple of years.
This group are better than that. Even at their best they might not necessarily have claimed a result, but there is still more to this team on their travels than they showed at the Emirates.
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Perspective required
In their analysis of Saturday’s game, the Daily Star wheeled out the phrase: “Arsenal are contenders, Nottingham Forest are pretenders.” It felt rather harsh.
Even when his team sat in third place, Nuno talked of improvement being needed. He has never been one to get carried away.
Only the other week, Sels stressed that the initial goal was simply to get to 40 points as quickly as possible; to reach the total widely regarded as the landmark for safety. With 19 points, the Reds are almost halfway there. They have a significant chunk of points already on the board.
They have come up against two excellent teams in their last two games. But with some more testing fixtures fast approaching, Nuno is well aware an upping of standards will be required in those contests. That is why he didn’t beat about the bush with his post-match comments.
Falling to successive defeats - particularly to the likes of Newcastle and Arsenal - isn’t really an issue. But a couple of below-par performances will have left the Portuguese with plenty to ponder.
