Nottingham Forest’s 2-2 draw with Leicester secured European football, with valid emotions of pride, disappointment and frustration following an underwhelming and uncharacteristic performance. George Edwards was at the match
For the first time in 30 years, Nottingham Forest are back in Europe — yet it somehow still doesn’t feel like enough.
From a position of strength, of prowess, of dominance, Forest now find themselves trailing the leading pack, their Champions League destiny out of their own hands for the first time in a very long while.
Evangelos Marinakis’s full-time frustrations summed it up. His behaviour cannot be condoned, giving the media another reason to oppose him, but his sentiment can be understood, and was shared by many sections of the City Ground.
A rather startled Nuno Espírito Santo greeted angst from his boss with grace and batted off the resulting lines of questioning with composure and calmness. But it’s right that questions should be asked of Forest at this current moment, because they have lost the fight that had been with them for so much of their memorable campaign.
Everyone had just believed that Forest had changed. I did. I dared to dream and truly thought that the persisting tendency to fall short and throw away positions of momentous advantage had evaporated.
Seventh in the Premier League, it’s okay to feel two emotions simultaneously. Immense pride and delight that Forest have risen from being serious relegation contenders to securing a return to Europe, playing the most entertaining style of football and creating memories to last a lifetime.
Yet disappointment, that Forest have stumbled at the very last, and their seemed destiny of Champions League football looks set to be a step too far.
Achieving European football shouldn’t feel this way, yet in stalemate against Leicester City, Forest displayed exactly why they have faltered over recent weeks. None of it was a surprise, whether it be the Foxes taking an early lead, Forest not getting a third goal or the lack of fightback to win the match once the score was 2-2.
Murillo, joining Callum Hudson-Odoi on the injury list, was missed immensely, with replacement Morato lacking the confidence and skillset to play into midfield and generate the forward momentum that his Brazilian counterpart does so well.
That’s not Morato’s game, and Murillo’s irreplaceability was stark. While Nikola Milenkovic has been the stalwart, Murillo has been the difference-maker, offering Forest ways to attack that nobody else can. And it’s his ever-positive mindset that was missed yesterday. While it did detriment Forest at home to Everton, his unwillingness to give in and believe that victory is always within grasp was exactly what Forest craved.
With 30 seconds to play, Matz Sels rose high to claim a cross, sprinted to the edge of his box and saw nothing but Chris Wood sprinting forwards. Everybody else in red was defeated and resigned to the result, Sels optionless in his final attempt to salvage three points.
Although one of those in red should never have been there, Forest’s medical team’s decision to keep Taiwo Awoniyi on after a collision with the post was, frankly, naïve. The entire stadium could see the Nigerian could barely walk, and why the bench couldn’t just wait 30 seconds more before bringing on Jota Silva for Elliot Anderson is bemusing.
That’s the incident that seems to have incensed Marinakis, perhaps masking the real frustration that we all feel.
A point from Everton, Brentford and Leicester at home is form a side chasing the Champions League cannot afford to display, and Forest’s lack of depth in vital areas has come back to bite them.
Nico Dominguez was up there with Forest’s best performers against Leicester, constantly involved and on the move, but he offers minute threat as an out-and-out winger. Nuno clearly disbelieves that Ramon Sosa nor Jota Silva display the quality Forest need, and they can’t just rely on their fullbacks to provide attacking width.
Forest did show their European-worthy quality in spells. Morgan Gibbs-White’s succulent and inch-perfect lofted ball and Chris Wood’s precise and expertly anticipated and executed header said it all about the plethora of talent currently wearing the Garibaldi.
Albeit in a game with plenty of space in midfield, Ibrahim Sangare’s controlling and positive performance for a player with just four Premier League starts this season elucidates how Forest’s consistent performers have kept them in the fight for so long, and offers optimism for their upcoming European venture.
And they certainly have an elite-level goalkeeper, Matz Sels coming up with four saves to ensure Forest still picked up a point.
Yet, their quality wasn’t consistent for the match, displaying defensive lapses that have ultimately cost them dearly and failing to convert the opening 10 minutes, of which they dominated, into 90 minutes of control.
Forest mustn’t let this season peter out. It would be such a shame to end with defeatism and acceptance following nine months of belief and incandescent optimism. They have two games to prove — to themselves more than anyone else — exactly why they are destined for Europe, and it still could be just enough to sneak into the top five.
And when we’re stepping on that plane in September, whether it be to Barcelona or to Bratislava, we will remember the season just gone with fondness and immense joy.
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