{"id":6865,"date":"2022-10-29T09:14:35","date_gmt":"2022-10-29T08:14:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=6865"},"modified":"2022-10-31T05:36:39","modified_gmt":"2022-10-31T05:36:39","slug":"good-time-to-spank-forest-bottom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=6865","title":{"rendered":"Good Time to Spank Forest Bottom"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color:#fff;display:inline-block;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:#a7a7a7;font-size:11px;width:100%;max-width:413px;\"><div style=\"padding:0;margin:0;text-align:left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/51655803\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" rel=\"noopener\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div><div style=\"overflow:hidden;position:relative;height:0;padding:143.82567% 0 0 0;width:100%;\"><iframe src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/51655803?et=w_AXcQVQR-dYd3QoKx2PIw&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=SadrazdjEn9gMflS9glTncTahHYguvOY_3hxCuNBwvs=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;\" width=\"413\" height=\"594\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Other than seeing Liverpool drop three points last week, there\u2019s another reason my heart felt glad to see Nottingham Forest defeat the Merseysiders.&nbsp;&nbsp;I confess that as a teenager I loved watching the late 1970s version of Forest in the weekly highlights package presented on Star Soccer, the weekly show that ran on ATV in the UK, and Stateside on PBS.&nbsp;&nbsp;The PBS program\u2019s Midlands focus gave viewers few opportunities to see Arsenal, but given the prominence of Forest at the time I was dazzled to see the exploits of Viv Anderson running up and down the wing, and John Robertson sending in tantalising crosses from the other side.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite my historical soft spot for Forest, I assure you my loyalties will lie 100% with Arsenal this week, even if we deny Forest the three points they need to avoid relegation at season\u2019s end.&nbsp;&nbsp;But having defeated Liverpool last week, Forest will be brimming with confidence at a moment, while Arsenal\u2019s is dipping after they dropped points at St. Mary\u2019s for the first time since their visit to Old Trafford on the 4th of September, and then offered such a poor Europa League display in midweek.&nbsp;&nbsp;Forest\u2019s combative captain, midfielder Ryan Yates, the only player who remains in the team that defeated Arsenal in January\u2019s F.A. Cup tie, was optimistic when questioned about his team\u2019s chances: \u201cWe\u2019ll be underdogs again at the Emirates on Sunday but inside the dressing room we feel we\u2019re more than a match for them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Opposition<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Forest last competed in the top flight in 1998-99 when they finished rock bottom, and the last time Arsenal hosted Forest in league play was at Highbury in August 1998 when Arsenal were 2-1 winners with goals by Emmanuel Petit and Marc Overmars. After a 22-year sabbatical, Forest were promoted to the Premier League in May despite last season\u2019s poor start that left them bottom of the Championship after seven games.&nbsp;&nbsp;In September 2021, Forest sacked Chris Hughton and hired Steve Cooper who proceeded to lead them to promotion via the play-offs.&nbsp; Cooper was well backed in the transfer market, as the club spent more than \u00a3150m on no fewer than 23 players including striker Taiwo Awoniyi from Union Berlin, defender Neco Williams from Liverpool, and Jesse Lingard plus loanee goalkeeper Dean Henderson from Manchester United.&nbsp;&nbsp;Forest lost two key figures from their promotion winning side, both of whom helped knock Arsenal out of the FA Cup, when the loan deals of midfielder James Garner and fullback Djed Spence came to an end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Forest\u2019s strategy of such high player turnover in a single transfer window was a very risky way for a Premier League club, and a newly promoted one at that, to build their squad, so their poor start this season could probably have been expected.&nbsp;&nbsp;A month ago speculation was rampant that Cooper\u2019s job could be in jeopardy, but rather than sacking him the club backed him with an extended deal.&nbsp;&nbsp;In early October, when Forest had won only four points after the first eight matches, Cooper was offered a new contract through 2025.&nbsp;&nbsp;As The Guardian reported, the renewal of Cooper\u2019s deal after five straight defeats represented \u201ca significant vote of confidence for the under-pressure manager from the owner, Evangelos Marinakis who had strongly considered sacking Cooper\u201d after their 4-0 loss at Leicester.&nbsp;&nbsp;Prior to defeating Liverpool, Forest had earned only two of nine points on offer in a home draw with Aston Villa, an away loss to Wolves, and an away draw with Brighton.&nbsp;&nbsp;But last week Forest remained steadfast at the back and came away with a famous 1-0 victory with a goal by the industrious Awoniyi despite conceding 75% of the possession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Arsenal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The challenge for Mikel Arteta is to figure out how to freshen the team whose second half performance at Southampton was tired and leggy; and whose second half at PSV was generally not at the races.&nbsp;&nbsp;In his Southampton post-match press conference Arteta said \u201cThe distances on the ball positions were too far, we gave too many simple balls away in very dangerous areas without much pressure and that didn\u2019t allow us much continuity like we had in the first half.\u201d&nbsp; Thomas Partey dominated the midfield in that first half at Southampton but he wasn\u2019t able to approach that level as the game wore on.&nbsp;&nbsp;Gabriel Jes\u00fas worked tirelessly but missed one or two key scoring opportunities, and looked nearly as tired as Partey.&nbsp; Arteta rested both players at PSV but used them in the second half to try to save the game, which they couldn\u2019t.&nbsp;&nbsp;It is now imperative for Arsenal to get back to winning ways against Forest so both of those key players should start.&nbsp;&nbsp;Jes\u00fas in particular, needs the chance to boost his confidence by ripping one or two balls into the Forest net, and lifting the team with a big performance in front of the home fans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fixture congestion is starting to be a concern with the team already looking knackered and Mikel Arteta having played such a strong team in midweek, but it\u2019s important to get the team playing well again from now through the World Cup break and I expect the gaffer to select his big players again, with the possible exception of Reiss Nelson giving Gabriel Martinelli a rest on the left wing.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Ramsdale<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">White&nbsp; Saliba&nbsp; Gabriel&nbsp; Tierney<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Thomas&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">\u00d8degaard&nbsp; Xhaka<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Saka&nbsp; Jes\u00fas&nbsp; Nelson<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The \u2018holic pound<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At this stage of the season, with the wind suddenly blowing in our faces, the mantra must be \u201cAny win will do\u201d which it definitely would.&nbsp; For that reason I am going for a scruffy 1-0 to The Arsenal with Gabriel Jes\u00fas scoring late.&nbsp; My apologies for serving up such a nervous-making scenario but I can\u2019t be much more optimistic having just watched the second half at Eindhoven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Enjoy the game, \u2018holics.&nbsp; Those who are attending the game give our boys the backing it looks like they can use at the moment.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embed from Getty Images Other than seeing Liverpool drop three points last week, there\u2019s another reason my heart felt glad to see Nottingham Forest defeat the Merseysiders.&nbsp;&nbsp;I confess that as a teenager I loved watching the late 1970s version of Forest in the weekly highlights package presented on Star Soccer, the weekly show that ran [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6865"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6865"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6865\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6889,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6865\/revisions\/6889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}