As Nottingham Forest’s squad heads off to Sweden to step up their pre-season training schedule, in this article I’ll be taking a look at some of the weak points of Forest’s squad and how they can improve in time for the approaching season.
Goalkeeper
With the departure of Karl Darlow to Newcastle, Forest are left with only one experienced goalkeeper in Dorus De Vries. Beyond that, Bulgarian Dimitar Evtimov and also, recently re-signed Swede, Tim Erlandsson. Both of whom have no experience in the Championship and Evtimov only has the experience of a handful of games with Mansfield Town in first team football.
You would argue that De Vries is a good shot stopper at Championship level but perhaps it wouldn’t be wise to tempt fate by having him as the only real option for that jersey. It only takes an injury or perhaps even complacency for Forest to be in trouble between the sticks so they have to look at increasing their first team options. If the back four have confidence in the keeper, the whole defensive operation runs a lot smoother. It also frees up Evtimov to get some invaluble loan experience to be able to make that jump to first team football next season, as Darlow did during his time at Walsall.
Full Back
Having released both Greg Halford and Dan Harding in the close season, Forest have only Eric Lichaj and Danny Fox as their recognised full backs. Lichaj was near ever present for Forest last season but he plays a lot better on the right than he does on the left. There are also question marks over Danny Fox when it comes to defending. If you were to ask a Forest fan, where would they see the team weakest, it’s almost a running joke that they will say left back.
Freedman attempted to utilise Michael Mancienne in that position last year but to no avail so it’s definitely an area that Forest will need to look into bringing one or two players into. Both to challenge and to supplement those thread bare positions. Todd Kane didn’t really get much of a chance under Freedman during his loan spell but it’s probably going to be the loan system where Forest could look to bring bodies into the squad.
Defensive Midfield
Ever since the departures of Paul McKenna and more recently, Gary Gardner, Forest have lacked a certain aggression in defending the back four. When you look at Forest’s current central midfield, it is filled with predominately attacking players. David Vaughan is perhaps the only player that Forest have that can play some sort of defensive role and his contributions through either form or injury have been and perhaps will continue to be, limited.
Nearly all Forest fans would love to see Gary Gardner back in the Garabaldi next season but after proving his worth Trentside, you get the feeling that if Villa don’t want to use him, they’ll be looking for a decent fee for him. Which obviously would then put him out of our reach because of Financial Fair Play. The thought of Cohen going into tackle after tackle as I’m sure our fearless skipper would, fills me with dread. Cohen could potentially have played the role but he needs carefully looking after suffering another knee injury.
Bottom line, Forest need a no-nonsense type. Someone who is a bit of a bruiser and is going to give creative license to the flair players to do.Mostly importantly to regain and retain possession, often during the poorer parts of last season, Forest resorted to playing ‘Hot Potato’ where the ball was concerned.
Striker
Forest on paper have got quite the strike force at Championship level. Club record signing Britt Assombalonga, combined with seasoned Championship veterans in Dexter Blackstock and Matty Fryatt as well as the up and comer in Tyler Walker. However, the reality of that is, Assombalonga is due to miss at least half of the season with injury and both Fryatt and Blackstock have their fair share of question marks regarding their injuries.
Forest need to add someone reliable with a few goals in them, at least until Assombalonga is back and match fit which may not be for a while yet. Blackstock and Fryatt both have got goals in them but its questionable how much of a role they can play. The loan market might be where Forest have the best luck in this position.
