Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest: Alex Crook calls out Steve Cooper for not having a ‘Plan B’

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Image for Nottingham Forest: Alex Crook calls out Steve Cooper for not having a ‘Plan B’

TalkSport football correspondent Alex Crook has criticised Steve Cooper for having no backup plan following Nottingham Forest’s heavy defeat last weekend.

The Garibaldi Reds suffered a 5-0 drubbing at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

Arsenal took the lead early on through Gabriel Martinelli and went on to have 24 shots in the game with Forest just trying to keep the scoreline down.

The visitors themselves managed two attempts from inside the area but were limited to just 39% possession and Crook has questioned Cooper’s gameplan.

Speaking on the TalkSport GameDay podcast, he said: “If I were going to criticise Steve Cooper, it wouldn’t be for not having a plan. It would be for not having a Plan B. Because we know the plan – it was to soak up Arsenal pressure, try and hit them on the counter-attack, stay in the game for as long as possible.

“When you concede after five minutes, that gameplan goes out the window, but they didn’t change the plan and they kept inviting Arsenal pressure and they kept conceding goals, so I do think he’s got a little bit to answer for, there.”

TIF Thoughts on Crook’s comments…

Will Forest get relegated?

Yes

Yes

No

No

Considering Forest kept the Gunners to just a goal in the first half, perhaps it is harsh for Crook to call out Cooper’s tactics.

No one would have expected the east Midlanders to take much from the game, but perhaps the way in which they conceded three times in eight second-half minutes would be the biggest worry.

It means the club have now conceded the joint-most goals in the division (28) alongside Bournemouth and that will need to be addressed by Cooper.

However, Arsenal are flying and have only dropped five points from their first 12 games, so the criticism of Cooper doesn’t seem merited, in our view. 

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