Share
Abdulazeez Abubakar
1 week ago
Overview
As the season nears its climax, Nottingham Forest finds itself in an unthinkable position.
While megabucks-spending Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur languish above the relegation places, the Reds, with just two seasons of Premier League soccer under their belts, are on course to qualify for the Champions League.
Having occupied third place for most of the season, the East Midlanders know that even dropping to fifth will guarantee a place in Europe’s elite competition.
Only one of Nottingham Forest’s remaining games is against a team from the top half of the table, unlike rivals Chelsea, Aston Villa, and Manchester City, who face more demanding schedules.
But confidence on the River Trent is starting to falter after successive defeats to Aston Villa and Everton.
Losing to the Toffees was especially painful because it was caused by ever-reliable defender Murillo suddenly making a mistake on the ball, which enabled the visitors to break away and score a late winner.
Manager Nuno Espirito Santo declined to criticize the Brazilian for the uncharacteristic error.
“It was not normal. The decision-making was not the best,” he said.
“It is not about players; it is about us as a team. When someone makes a mistake, we always have someone to try to correct it and help. It didn’t work out today.
“We are disappointed because with an offensive corner in the last minutes of the game, we want to try to score. It is not even a counterattack.
Credit to Everton, they were physical and didn’t allow us too much time on the ball. But we should do much better. We are disappointed in the end with the way we conceded. If you cannot win because we didn’t play good, at least keep what you have.”
But Nuno, like most followers of the Premier League, will know that the list of sides who massively overachieved and looked on course for Champions League qualification only to fall away at the end is lengthy.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakgarnerpurkis/2025/04/21/now-we-will-see-if-nottingham-forest-chokes-like-its-enemy/
