Alfa Semedo made his Nottingham Forest debut on Saturday, after joining on a season-long loan from Benfica.
Nottingham Forest began their 2019/20 Championship campaign at the weekend with a 2-1 home defeat against fellow promotion hopefuls West Bromwich Albion.
The Reds have endured a turbulent summer full of comings and goings, the biggest of which being Martin O’Neill’s dismissal as manager and Sabri Lamouchi’s arrival.
Lamouchi took charge of his first competitive game as Forest manager at the City Ground on Saturday, and he’ll have been disappointed not to get a result.
The Reds took an early lead when Matty Cash’s low strike got the better of Sam Johnstone at his near post. However, the Baggies were able to turn the game around courtesy of Kyle Edwards and Matt Phillips.
There’s no doubt that the performance will have given Lamouchi plenty to ponder. The Reds now face a daunting trip to Elland Road to face Leeds United next weekend. They’ll be desperate to pick up their first points of the season.
Despite the result, there were a number of positives for the Frenchman to take. One of them will be the performance of Alfa Semedo.
‘Quality’, ‘Talented’
The 21-year-old looked one of his side’s brightest sparks throughout the game. He came close to finding the back of the net in the second half after beating three players before firing over.
It’s easy to see why he is so highly-rated by his parent club. He could be a key player for the Reds this season.
The Reds started in a 4-3-3 formation for this game, as they have done in pre-season. Semedo played alongside Ben Watson and Tiago Silva in midfield. It’s fair to say that he had the biggest impact on the game out of the three of them.
Supporters took to Twitter after the game to hail Semedo, calling him ‘quality’, ‘talented’ and ‘class’, with a comparison to Manchester United ace Paul Pogba already put out there.
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