sosman
Youth Team
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2007
- Messages
- 190
I thought I’d post on here because, for reasons that I don’t need to bore you with, I went to see Forest v. Tranmere and so I thought that I’d report back, albeit not being the most ‘football minded’ as some of you (to quote MK Shrimper). That might mean that my title is a little bit optimistic when compared to the content of this post, but it might be possible to draw on what I saw.
In short, I thought that they were good but far from unbeatable. Tranmere were –as we know-well organised, if rather lacking in individual flair and I reckon that they came with pretty much the same game plan as they saw working at Roots Hall. They weren’t overly negative, but they certainly were there with typical away match tactics, so the onus was on Forest to break them down. They didn’t do that with much alarming regularity, indeed the first half was a pretty turgid affair all in all. It looked to me like a goal either way was going to settle it, if there was one at all. In the second half the goals were a penalty and a class volley with Tyson totally unmarked near the penalty spot.
It therefore seems to me that steady-as-she-goes competent defending may well be enough to stop Forest scoring as they do not look amazing up front. Not too many chances were created. Looking at us, you do have to question whether we are going to be able to do that for a whole 90 minutes without a blunder. It would be nice to think that if that’s all that’s required, we have it, but I’m not sure that’s correct.
As for their defending, it was a similar story I felt, competent but not spectacular. Tranmere were quite a passing side (Forest incidentally whilst not exactly route one, were quite aerial when it came to passing) and they did find occasional gaps. There was probably only one gilt edged chance for the visitors and that was near the end when Tranmere’s play had otherwise gone well past its sell by date. I feel that we have a little more flair than Tranmere and so it is to be hoped that we can find a way through. I thought that they looked more vulnerable on the wings than in the centre, but even here, penetration was at a premium, possibly more due to the opposition than anything.
I felt that, like us, Forest’s strength was their midfield. They were mainly commanding there. Commons is of course a class player and controlled things with some crisp passing. It will be interesting to see who wins that battle.
One thing of note is the crowd. I think someone said on a post recently that they have a bit of a problem with the crowd on their backs if things aren’t going well. I’m not sure if the players are getting used to it, but it’s certainly not a positive thing, is it? If we can keep it clean for 60 or 70 mins then that would probably be good in getting the home crowd to do some psychological work for us!
It’s clearly going to be a tough game, and I for one shall be pleased with a point, but I think that it’s entirely possible that we could get all three if we play to win (i.e. not like Tranmere). If we were to get all three and potentially go top, I think that would be a massive psychological boost for us. I’m not expecting that, but don’t think that seeing what I saw on Saturday, you would say it’s out of the question.
Finally, be wary of the ‘final’ scores at the end of the match. They still had Southend as 0-0 even though Barrett’s goal had been some 20 mins earlier, and that wasn’t the only out of date ‘latest’ score they gave. Hope you enjoy it and here’s to three points. Particularly annoying given that I was there on Saturday that I can’t go, especially as it’s a fiver!
In short, I thought that they were good but far from unbeatable. Tranmere were –as we know-well organised, if rather lacking in individual flair and I reckon that they came with pretty much the same game plan as they saw working at Roots Hall. They weren’t overly negative, but they certainly were there with typical away match tactics, so the onus was on Forest to break them down. They didn’t do that with much alarming regularity, indeed the first half was a pretty turgid affair all in all. It looked to me like a goal either way was going to settle it, if there was one at all. In the second half the goals were a penalty and a class volley with Tyson totally unmarked near the penalty spot.
It therefore seems to me that steady-as-she-goes competent defending may well be enough to stop Forest scoring as they do not look amazing up front. Not too many chances were created. Looking at us, you do have to question whether we are going to be able to do that for a whole 90 minutes without a blunder. It would be nice to think that if that’s all that’s required, we have it, but I’m not sure that’s correct.
As for their defending, it was a similar story I felt, competent but not spectacular. Tranmere were quite a passing side (Forest incidentally whilst not exactly route one, were quite aerial when it came to passing) and they did find occasional gaps. There was probably only one gilt edged chance for the visitors and that was near the end when Tranmere’s play had otherwise gone well past its sell by date. I feel that we have a little more flair than Tranmere and so it is to be hoped that we can find a way through. I thought that they looked more vulnerable on the wings than in the centre, but even here, penetration was at a premium, possibly more due to the opposition than anything.
I felt that, like us, Forest’s strength was their midfield. They were mainly commanding there. Commons is of course a class player and controlled things with some crisp passing. It will be interesting to see who wins that battle.
One thing of note is the crowd. I think someone said on a post recently that they have a bit of a problem with the crowd on their backs if things aren’t going well. I’m not sure if the players are getting used to it, but it’s certainly not a positive thing, is it? If we can keep it clean for 60 or 70 mins then that would probably be good in getting the home crowd to do some psychological work for us!
It’s clearly going to be a tough game, and I for one shall be pleased with a point, but I think that it’s entirely possible that we could get all three if we play to win (i.e. not like Tranmere). If we were to get all three and potentially go top, I think that would be a massive psychological boost for us. I’m not expecting that, but don’t think that seeing what I saw on Saturday, you would say it’s out of the question.
Finally, be wary of the ‘final’ scores at the end of the match. They still had Southend as 0-0 even though Barrett’s goal had been some 20 mins earlier, and that wasn’t the only out of date ‘latest’ score they gave. Hope you enjoy it and here’s to three points. Particularly annoying given that I was there on Saturday that I can’t go, especially as it’s a fiver!
