It was a tough afternoon for Nottingham Forest in their 3-0 defeat against Arsenal, with one player in particular infuriating Ally McCoist on commentary.
Arsenal fans mocked Ange Postecoglou as the former Tottenham boss took charge of Forest for the first time, but didn’t have the impact he would’ve hoped.
A brace for Martin Zubimendi either side of a Viktor Gyokeres goal saw the hosts win fairly comfortably, with the Reds mainly concerned about Murillo limping off with an injury as Postecoglou continues to adapt to his new team.
The loss may not have come as a surprise, but McCoist, on commentary for TNT Sports, was particularly disappointed with one of the Reds defenders’ efforts.
Ally McCoist slams Nicolo Savona on his Nottingham Forest debut
Postecoglou chose to start with Morato at full-back to cover for the injured Ola Aina, but after Morato had a disastrous first half, he was switched into the centre of the defence to replace Murillo.
This paved the way for Nicolo Savona to make his Forest debut, but he didn’t get off to the best start with his role in Arsenal’s second goal particularly concerning to McCoist.
Savona let the ball bounce over his head, which allowed Eberechi Eze to break in behind and square it to Gyokeres. Reacting to this, McCoist said: “It’s in the air a long time and he cannot let that bounce, he’s got to position himself better than that.
“He just misreads it, to tell you the truth. […] I mentioned in the first half that you don’t want to let the ball bounce if you’re a defender; he shouldn’t let that go with his head.”
Clearly, a disappointing moment in his first Premier League appearance, with his underlying stats highlighting that Savona has room to improve.
Nicolo Savona will need to improve on disappointing Arsenal show
The Italian arrived with a slight injury so he was clearly lacking in terms of match fitness, but he’ll be the first to admit that he will need to do better in the future.
| Statistic | Nicolo Savona vs Arsenal |
| Possession lost | 9 |
| Pass completion | 86% |
| Ground duels won | 4/5 |
| Dribbled past | 1 |
In terms of his one-on-one defending, Savona won four of his five ground duels and was only dribbled past once which is respectable against the talent of Arsenal, but his work in possession was more concerning.
Savona lost possession nine times in his 57 minutes on the pitch, which simply has to be improved upon in a Postecoglou side, as the Reds look to dominate the ball and play more expansively.
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