Steve Cooper has heaped praise on Morgan Gibbs-White after Nottingham Forest drew 1-1 with Brentford yesterday. The head coach left the 23-year-old start on the bench for the Premier League contest.
After the game, Cooper was quizzed on that decision. It did come as a bit of a shock but ultimately, the head coach felt it was something that he needed to do.
Forest claimed a point after Nicolas Dominguez equalised shortly after Christian Norgaard had put Brentford in front. The Reds played for over 30 minutes with just 10 men after Moussa Niakhate saw red.
Cooper has praise for Forest player Gibbs-White
The man who won the European Championship with the England under-21 squad in the summer rarely misses games. His hectic summer was cited as a reason why Cooper didn’t name him in yesterday’s starting eleven.
He told BBC Radio Nottingham: “Everybody loves him, Morgan. He’s had no break, he’s not had a summer really, he’s played right through. He wasn’t dropped, we gave him a breather because have other players who are ready to make an impact at this club.”
Gibbs-White came on in the second half, shortly after Niakhate had been dismissed for a second yellow card. It was his pass that brilliantly found Harry Toffolo to tee up Dominguez to equalise.
Gibbs-White shouldn’t be dropped again
It’s fair to say that Forest lacked a little bit of spark when Gibbs-White wasn’t on the pitch. Although they dominated the midfield battle when it was eleven against eleven, they didn’t really create much.
Gibbs-White will make mistakes. As a number 10 he will always be trying to get things going and with that comes an element of uncertainty with the things he’s trying.
However, he’s Forest’s best player when it comes to the technical side of the game. He is capable of turning defence into attack very quickly and he also gives everything when he’s on the pitch.
Cooper will have learned a lot from his decision involving Gibbs-White yesterday. It’s hard to imagine him being left on the bench again any time soon.
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