It wasn’t the defeat itself which meant Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper cut a frustrated figure at full-time on Wednesday night.
Losing to a Manchester United side on the up under Erik ten Hag is no disgrace. Indeed, this season has already shown there is a significant gap between the teams at the top end of the Premier League and the rest.
But the Reds didn’t help themselves at times in this Carabao Cup clash. Against teams like United, with in-form players like Marcus Rashford, that’s asking for trouble.
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And it was that which irked Cooper most. That the goals conceded were Forest’s “own doing”, that they came at bad times and that opportunities at the other end of the pitch were not taken. Beforehand, the Welshman spoke about wanting his players to have “no regrets”, whatever happened across the two legs, but they will reflect on the first 90 minutes and think it could have panned out very differently.
Instead, at 3-0 down, this semi-final is all but done for the Reds. They are no stranger to footballing miracles, but overturning that deficit at Old Trafford would take a miracle and then some.
Giving United a helping hand
The visitors didn’t need a second invitation to make themselves at home Trentside. Any hope Forest had of getting an early foothold in the game went out of the window inside the first few minutes.
Rashford breezed past Joe Worrall and Remo Freuler as if they weren’t there, while Serge Aurier had gone AWOL as the England man opened the scoring. Wayne Hennessey will no doubt feel he could have done better, too - likewise with the second, when he parried a shot from Antony into the danger zone, where Wout Weghorst was waiting.
The opening goal was a blow. The second, just before half-time, when the hosts had enjoyed a decent spell, was a sucker-punch. And the third was a killer.
“Disappointed and frustrated more, because of how they have happened and the timing of them,” Cooper said when asked if he was surprised by the manner in which his team had conceded, given the strength of their recent home form. “For example, 1-0 down at half-time, you could get in and sort things out a little bit, after we had to change a few things tactically early on.
“United are good. You do have to accept that you have a lot of spells where you have to control the game without the ball and they control with it.
“Surprised is not the word, because it was our own doing. I don’t want to take anything away from United, they were good, but we have to do better with the goals.”
It was always going to be difficult against Ten Hag’s side. Forest have made great strides since the start of the season, and even since they fell 3-0 at Old Trafford in the league last month. Competing with the likes of United requires another leap again, but Cooper will still feel such an emphatic score line for the visitors was entirely preventable.
Missed opportunities
It could all have been so very different had the hosts made the most of their chances. After a shaky opening 20 minutes, they grew into the game and were on top for a spell. They just couldn’t make it count.
Sam Surridge thought he had bagged the equaliser midway through the half. It would have been a lovely goal, too, had he not been offside by the narrowest of margins after good work by Morgan Gibbs-White. The VAR check rather put a dent in Surridge’s celebrations.
Still, it sparked the Reds out of their slumber. Perhaps they had been guilty of showing their opponents too much respect early on, and they managed to find a bit of belief. If only they had matched that by finding the net.
Gustavo Scarpa and Brennan Johnson both had chances. The latter might well have done better on the half hour when he made a terrific run and skipped past a couple of challenges, only to then fire wildly off target.
Forest had their moments. They put together some lovely moves during that first half spell. In these kinds of games, though, that’s not enough; you need to come away with something from them.
Gibbs-White worry
Just when there had been positive news on the injury front, in the form of Willy Boly and Jesse Lingard returning, and Moussa Niakhate and Omar Richards said to be close to joining in training, Cooper has been hit with another concern. And one he could really do without, too.
The Reds can ill-afford to lose Gibbs-White for any length of time - not just for next week’s return leg, when, given there is now little more than pride at stake, the head coach will surely make a fair few changes. If the former Wolverhampton Wanderers man is missing for any games beyond that, though, it would be a massive blow.
The summer signing looked far from happy as he immediately headed down the tunnel after being forced off. Cooper said he had suffered an ankle injury but he wasn’t sure of the extent of it.
It seems unlikely any risk will be taken over him in the second leg, regardless of the severity of the problem. But Forest desperately need him for some big league games coming up.
Gibbs-White has been in superb form. He was again on Wednesday night, giving Casemiro a tough time and causing the visitors problems. His quality was clear to see.
Johnson can be a threat, Scarpa has shown promise, and Lingard will hope to pick up from where he left off after injury - although his comeback cameo showed he still needs to rediscover his sharpness. It is Gibbs-White, though, who has frequently been at the heart of the Reds’ best play. Fingers will be very tightly crossed as assessments are made.
Transfer talk
Wednesday night’s defeat illustrated why the club will look to do further transfer business in the final days of the window. Their injury list means the squad still looks a little light. They need to make sure they end the month with sufficient strength in depth.
It seems likely they will look to bring a goalkeeper in, to cover for Dean Henderson’s absence. Hennessey has made some decent saves, but he might also have done better with some of the goals he has conceded when he has played.
There is hope Henderson might not be out for too long, but there is never any absolute certainty when it comes to recovery timescales. Deciding whether to bring another stopper in is a tough call to make.
The Reds have already added Chris Wood, who was cup-tied against United, but they could probably still do with another attack-minded player in. With Taiwo Awoniyi sidelined and Wood unavailable, Lingard and Emmanuel Dennis provided the attacking options from off the bench. Amid speculation about his future, the latter, in particular, struggled to make any kind of impact.
Cooper expects ins and outs before next Tuesday’s deadline. Any business done won’t help Forest’s cause in the cup, but while reaching the semi-finals was a nice bonus, the real priority is what happens in the league.
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