Forest Boffin

Forest opened the season with a disappointing 1-0 defeat at Brighton which showed that Dougie Freedman is yet to solve the problems which proved so damaging last season. Our opponents used a simple and traditional 4-4-2 which made good use of their wingers Kazenga Lua Lua and Solly March. As I remember, this is the system that Seagulls manager Chris Hughton routinely favours, in this case it was a good choice; Brighton do not appear particularly creative, but playing with width is a good way to exploit the narrow defensive ethos that Freedman relies on at times. For Forest, Dexter Blackstock was the lone gunman up front. The Reds initial strategy was to defend deep and stay in shape, and hit Brighton on the break by playing direct balls to their target-man. They played with two banks of four, in between which was stationed Michael Mancienne, who acted as an extra layer of defence for the back four. We have seen Freedman's defensive mode before; it was used when turning aro...

Forest once again ended the season watching their opponents celebrate on The City Ground pitch, as Brighton snatched a play-off place with an injury time winner. Although not straightforward, the result was no surprise as Forest named a depleted side. Winger Jamie Mackie played at right-back, in what appeared to be a 4-4-2 formation, although The Reds' midfield was quite misshapen throughout; at times it looked, in practice, like a 4-1-2-1-2, but it is difficult to imagine that this is how Gary Brazil would have intended his side to shape up. I believe youngster Stephen McLaughlin should have been on the right-wing, but he played quite centrally, possibly drifting unintentionally inside, to chase play. The heart of Forest's team was formed by David Vaughan, who took responsibility of organising the defensive efforts, and Raddy Majewski, who played in front of Vaughan, helping Forest keep the ball when moving forward. Brighton lined up in a narrow 4-3-3, with Bolton loa...

The first Scene of the season's final Act sees Brighton travel to Nottingham for what's sure to be a great game. Who could have predicted how important this match would be for Forest a couple of months ago? Billy has ignited Forest's fire, and six wins in a row has seen the Garibaldi rocket above their opponents. Such form is bound to engender optimism, but The Seagulls will be no pushover. Brighton have been pushing for promotion all season and possess some truly special players at this level, but worst of all for Forest they play a system perfect for exploiting Billy's diamond formation. They pass the ball better than the average side, enjoying a lot of possession utilising the width of the pitch. Wide-men Will Buckley and Andrea Orlandi have 16 assists between them this season, with full-backs Bruno Saltor & Inigo Calderon getting forward to contribute another 9 assists - should Brighton find space in front of Cohen or Jara they will exploit it - see Key Batt...