When Nuno Espirito Santo, the manager of Nottingham Forest, made a comment about Arsenal on TNT Sports, Martin Keown was left speechless and stunned.
On Wednesday night, Forest welcomed Arsenal to the City Ground, where they were playing third against second in the Premier League. This came after Forest had suffered consecutive defeats to Fulham and Newcastle United.
The match between the two teams ended in a scoreless draw, which was sufficient for Forest to maintain their third-place standing. However, Manchester City’s victory over Spurs by a score of 1-0 means that they are now only one point ahead of Forest.
This season, Espirito Santo has had a great deal of success with Forest by employing a formation that typically consists of three center-backs and wing-backs. However, he has shown tactical flexibility by switching back to a back four on a few occasions.
Another one of those instances occurred on Wednesday, when the former Wolves manager made the decision to field four defenders for the match against Arsenal. Former Gunners defender Keown was eager to find out what prompted the change after the game, but he was surprised to hear Espirito Santo be so forthright about Arsenal and the lack of threat they pose without a recognised striker. Keown was eager to learn more about the reason behind the change.
It’s going to be so. It is not necessary for Arsenal to have an additional body because they do not have a striker and [Mikel] Merino is currently playing in that position. It is important to keep the midfield under control because the overload will be in the middle of the field.
Keown did not provide much of a response and responded with “Yeah ok” in a clip from the coverage that was shared by TNT Sports.
Espirito Santo was ecstatic and pleased with his performance and clean sheet.
As Forest demonstrated their defensive capabilities, they were able to keep another clean sheet. Espirito Santo was pleased with how his team responded to a recent setback and got back to where they were before.
He expressed his satisfaction to BBC Sport by saying, “I am very happy with the way we did things, the way we played against Arsenal.”
“Their opponents are extremely challenging to play against. Their team is of very high quality. Putting in a lot of effort is required. We had a strong and compact presence. Extremely encouraging game.
As a result of this period in which we conceded, it was essential to return to the fundamentals, which consisted of a clean sheet. We had a few seconds to improve our performance in this area. In terms of the game, however, it was a positive experience because it was very important to return to the team that we are, which is what makes it possible for us to be successful.
There is danger lurking around every corner for them. A few examples of these are set-pieces. Focus is required for it. The boys did a strong job. It was prepared by us.”
Ipswich Town is Forest’s opponent in the fifth round of the FA Cup, and the following week, Forest will play host to City in a game that is considered to be of the utmost importance.
The fact that Arsenal was eliminated from the FA Cup means that they will have a free weekend, which will provide them with additional time to prepare for their match against PSV Eindhoven in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16.
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