Steve Cooper can’t keep playing 33-year-old Nottingham Forest man after Saturday disaster – Opinion

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Steve Cooper has got plenty right as Nottingham Forest boss but he must now make a big call on Cheikhou Kouyate. The player endured a pretty disastrous cameo on Saturday as the Reds drew 2-2 with Luton Town.

Kouyate was introduced from the bench with 14 minutes remaining. Last season, he proved a useful figure signed to offer experience and guile to a young and naive squad at Premier League level.

After a glut of signings in the summer, some reports linked Kouyate with a move away from the City Ground. Right now, it’s becoming apparent that the player’s best days are behind him and perhaps the club should have offloaded him.

Kouyate endured nightmare on Saturday

It’s not always an easy time to come onto the pitch for a midfielder player with your team winning 2-0. For a player like Kouyate though, he should have been capable of helping the Reds see the game out.

The player struggled though and his energy levels perhaps showcased why Crystal Palace didn’t want to give him a two-year contract before he signed for Forest.

Who Scored shows a damning assessment of Kouyate. He was on the pitch for 20 minutes including stoppage time and in that time he touched the ball just eight times.

That in itself is bad enough but it gets worse for Forest midfielder Kouyate. During his time on the pitch, the central midfielder who should be renowned for getting his foot on the ball, failed to complete a single pass!

That is frankly ridiculous for a player who boasts such experience. As a result, Cooper has to be weighing up whether he can afford to utilise Kouyate moving forward.

Forest now have better options than Kouyate

This wasn’t a game for Kouyate. Luton worked themselves into the ground and the Senegalese player simply couldn’t match them in that sense, looking rusty after he came on.

Forest boss Cooper quite simply has better options available to him now. Andrey Santos, signed on loan from Chelsea, must be wondering what he has to do in order to get himself recognised in a Forest shirt.

Kouyate won’t have been happy with this showing on Saturday and Cooper will certainly have food for thought. After such a drab showing, the head coach has to make a brutal decision and choose against the 86-cap player in the future.