George Elek and Ali Maxwell discussed all the latest Championship news during the most recent edition of the Not The Top 20 podcast and the pair spent some time discussing Nottingham Forest’s loss to Barnsley last weekend during the show.
Forest currently sit in fifth place on the Championship table, however, it is still possible for them to drop out of the playoff places on the final day of the 2019/20 Championship campaign, this Wednesday, with seventh-placed Swansea City still just about within touching distance of the Reds.
Forest would have secured their place in the play-offs if they’d gotten a result against relegation-battling Barnsley last weekend, however, they suffered a 1-0 defeat at Oakwell.
Sabri Lamouchi lined his side up a 3-4-1-2 formation in this game, which is a formation that they’d never used in any other Championship fixture this season, as per WhoScored. Elek criticised the Forest manager’s decision to line up in this shape against Barnsley during the most recent edition of the Not The Top 20 podcast.
Here is what Elek had to say about Lamouchi’s decision: “We’ve given Sabri Lamouchi a lot of credit for his tactical nous this season. If Nottingham Forest fall out of the play-offs, that gamble he’s played in this game will go down as one of the most foolish things he possibly could’ve done.
“We’ve spoken as well about the importance of making sure that you’re not playing against whoever finishes third, so not only are they risking finishing in that [sixth] position which could mean they come up against Brentford or West Brom rather than, likely Fulham, but they [are] also now in danger of stepping out completely.”
Was Lamouchi foolish for using a 3-4-1-2 formation against Barnsley?
YES, THAT WAS FOOLISH
NO, I DON'T THINK SO
TIF Thoughts…
Considering that Forest hadn’t lined up in a 3-4-1-2 shape at all in the league this season up until last weekend, it may be fair to say that this was a gamble that ultimately didn’t pay off for the Reds and knowing that they would have secured a place in the playoffs had they gotten a result versus relegation-battling Barnsley, it may be understandable why Elek was critical of the manager’s unsuccessful tactical decision.