Forest 1-2 West Brom: a tactical report

Sabri Lamouchi's fledgling reign got off to a poor start on Saturday as Forest were tactically outmanoeuvred in a 2-1 loss against promotion contenders West Bromwich Albion.

Lamouchi used a 4-1-4-1 formation with Ben Watson patrolling behind an experimental looking bank of four midfielders. Lewis Grabban was tasked with playing alone up front, also notable was Matty Cash slotting in at right-back.

Like Forest, Albion also had the look of a team in transition, with new manager Slavan Bilic deploying a 4-2-3-1 system. They have made some good acquisitions during the summer, notably Kenneth Zohore - fresh from a toughening season in The Premier League - and the classy Romaine Sawyers.

The Reds started brilliantly with a high tempo first fifteen minutes. Their movement in possession was excellent and simply gave Albion too many problems to cope with.

The midfield four proved to be accomplished on the ball and were brave in and out of possession, constantly available as outlets and unhesitant in making risky attacking plays - Forest were able to get the ball forward with some very positive football.

Adding to the assault were full-backs Cash and Jack Robinson, who made overlapping runs past the wide midfielders, creating overloads. This resulted in the opening goal of the match, as Cash combined with Albert Adomah and smashed the ball in from just outside the penalty area (see right, click to expand).

This was a good example of how teams, even with a clear tactical advantage (as we will see below), can struggle to cope with positive play. Forest had players making themselves available for the ball and making positive runs into areas of the pitch that created overloads and caused their opponents to make constant adjustments, which often left space.

The effectiveness of this, albeit only for a short period of the game, was increased by the back three being willing and able to play positive balls into the midfield. Michael Dawson and Joe Worrall advanced play well, however young goalkeeper Aro Muric was also outstanding in this regard.

However, once the goal had been scored Forest became vulnerable due to the tactics employed by both teams.

In setting up in a 4-1-4-1, Lamouchi would have been aware that pockets of space can appear to either side of the defensive midfielder (see diagram, left. Click to expand).

Alone this is not disastrous, but it does require energy and conscientiousness from the midfielders in particular - if they are aware of opponents looking to get on the ball in this space it is possible to neutralise this threat.

Forest's midfield bank of four raised my interest in this regard before the game; Adomah and Joe Lolley are not known for their defensive positioning, but I was also aware of the step up in quality that Thiago Silva and Alfa Semedo were making in their debuts in English football.

It was therefore foreseeable that if the midfielders were not covering this space, the West Brom players would attack it when they got the chance, and this is exactly what happened after Cash's goal.

Forest's pressing system made the situation worse. It seemed odd at the time that after the goal Forest stopped pressing in West Brom's half. Listening to Lamouchi after the game, it's possible that he instructed his team to do this in order to draw West Brom onto Forest - I may have misinterpreted him, however watching the match back on tv he does appear to be telling Ben Watson to do this.

From this point on The Reds pressed conditionally and relatively conservatively compared to before their goal. This allowed Albion to have the ball under little pressure until they crossed the half-way line. They now had time to play precision passes into the pockets of space behind Forest's bank of four midfielders.

The Baggies were able to hit back with two quick goals - as it transpired both of came from goalkeeping errors, however they were able to threaten the Forest goal because of possession established in front of our full-backs in these pockets of space.

The problem was exacerbated by the tactics employed by Bilic; the 4-2-3-1 is ideal for exploiting this space - the shape and flexible nature of the system allows the wide attacking midfielders to naturally find these areas of the pitch.

Forest had a defensive midfielder in place, mopping up in front of the defenders, however he had far too much to do.

Watson had a decent game. The golden oldie covered the whole pitch and rescued Forest on several occasions, but he was spread far too thin, covering the space that the other midfielders were leaving.

A look at his heat map illustrates how much work he had to get through - I have superimposed his defensive actions onto it too.

Although there was no lack of effort, the other midfielders simply did not have the defensive knowledge to consistently see where the space was appearing, or the flexibility to act, leaving Watson to cover as best he could, aided by some shrewd interventions by the two central defenders.

To put the whole recipe together, Forest were playing a system which left them vulnerable to leaving space in front of the full-backs, employing a pressing system which allowed their opponents time on the ball to pick out that space, against opponents who were using a system geared towards exploiting the situation.

This was a big part of Albion being able win the midfield battle for the majority of this game - they were able to get on the ball in these pockets of space in front of the Forest defenders almost at will.

The Reds looked slightly better in possession, but this aspect of their play was also beset with tactical problems. After going behind, they were never as threatening coming forward, despite some dangerous running from Lolley, Adomah and Semedo in particular.

Part of this would have been due to the knowledge that upon losing possession they were vulnerable, however once again it was the teams competing systems making it difficult for Forest to play the ball through midfield.

The 4-2-3-1 is naturally narrower making it easier for the wider midfielders to help crowd out the opposition central midfielders. There are also two defensive midfielders - this made it difficult for the Forest midfield to get on the ball as often once Albion had weathered the initial, adrenaline fuelled, storm.

This meant that Forest were forced to play the ball long at times, however when they did so they had little success, due to the lack of presence offered by Lewis Grabban. When our opponents played direct balls, sometimes the ball stuck as their attacker, Zohore, is well suited to playing on his own, however Grabban does not flourish when isolated.

Ultimately this game was lost due to two goalkeeping errors, however that does not tell the full story - Albion were clearly the better team and deserved their victory. They won the midfield battle because they were able to play through midfield and establish possession in Forest's half more easily.

There were positives for Forest; the defence held up excellently. Despite dominating possession and finding themselves in some very threatening positions, West Brom did not create many clear cut chances, due to a disciplined performance in particular from Dawson, Worrall and Watson.

The full-backs also played their part - I note a few grumbles about Cash's defending, however he was no liability during this game. The youngster was beaten for West Brom's equaliser, but he was heavily overloaded with three players to contend with (see picture, right). The problem was not Cash's defending, Forest had already been picked apart before the ball arrived in his position, to such extent that an attempt on goal was highly likely.

Muric in goal did not let his two calamities affect him. Later in the game he made an excellent save to keep Forest alive, and looked confident in dealing with crosses. And the midfielders, although out of their depth off the ball, look exciting when in possession.

There were some naïve tactical decisions made during this game - Lamouchi clearly did not know what his players were capable of, and the way he set the team up (4-1-4-1 against a 4-2-3-1) was detrimental to their performance. Inviting West Brom to attack after Forest's first goal, if this is what he did, also backfired. However as the new manager learns what the Championship is all about, it looks like we'll start to see Forest develop an attractive style of football.

Thanks for reading.

Thanks to:
www.whoscored.com
www.sharemytactics.com