Michael Owen delivers his verdict on former Nottingham Forest player Brice Samba’s display vs Arsenal

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Nottingham Forest promotion hero Brice Samba was on the wrong end of a 6-0 defeat to Arsenal in the Champions League last night.

The man who stole the show in the play-off semi-final second leg against Sheffield United had no answers for the lethal Gunners attack.

Samba was captaining Lens once again in the Champions League and after his performance, he came in for some criticism from Michael Owen.

Samba hammered for horror Champions League outing

The Ligue 1 outfit failed to build on their 2-1 win over Arsenal earlier in the Champions League group stages. In this one, they were 5-0 down at half-time.

The performance came on a day when Forest fans were pining for Samba once again after he’d given an interview to L’Equipe where he explained why he left Forest.

Owen wasn’t impressed with the 29-year-old goalkeeper and felt that the player didn’t exactly cover himself in glory at the Emirates Stadium.

He told TNT Sports: “The goalkeeper could possibly have made himself bigger. I thought he could have done better with two or three of the goals, certainly the three goals actually.

Samba will want to forget drab night back in England

Forest have played Arsenal away this season already. On that occasion, Matt Turner played in goal for the Reds and conceded just twice in a 2-1 reversal.

Samba will be very quick to move on from this performance against a very strong outfit. It might also temper some Forest fans who seem hellbent on urging him back to the club at every chance.

Samba was incredible at times for Forest. Last night, however, he showed the other side to his game that the Reds also got glimpses of, one that can be extremely erratic.

Forest opted to offload Samba shortly after promotion when it became clear he wouldn’t sign a new contract. Yesterday, he also spoke about the thing he told Joe Worrall when he signed for the club.

Samba should be remembered by Forest fans but ultimately, he’s moved on. With that in mind, the Reds fan base should do the same and focus on the current goalkeepers doing their bit for Forest.

Lens are now unlikely to qualify for the next round of the Champions League. They need to beat Sevilla, hope Arsenal beat PSV and they also need a four-goal swing in their favour.