Nottingham Forest were beaten by Fulham to keep the club embroiled in a relegation battle.
This season was supposed to be about kicking on for Forest, but Sean Dyche is the club’s third manager of the campaign, and it’s all a bit of a mess.
After beating Tottenham 3-0, spirits had been lifted, but against the Cottagers, Forest got a reminder of just how much work there is to do.
It was hard to pick a positive performer from the game against Fulham, with a number of star men way below their best in West London.
One man’s performance highlighted just how bad things were on the night, with Elliot Anderson guilty of a dreadful performance.
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Anderson is a wonderful footballer, but against Fulham, he was well out of sorts.
His performance showcased a man who is starting to feel some pressure, having been touted with a move to some big clubs such as Manchester City and Liverpool.
Furthermore, Anderson perhaps looked a little bit fatigued, having played a lot of football this season, but it’s fair to say he needs to improve.
The youngster has been a revelation since signing for Forest from Newcastle, with the Magpies choosing to sell him to comply with PSR for £35 million.
In large, he’s got ample credit in the bank at Forest, but it’s fair to say that he will want to park this performance vs Fulham pretty quickly.
Anderson will miss Ibrahim Sangare
It’s perhaps no coincidence that Anderson chose his worst Forest performance when Sangare wasn’t alongside him in the midfield engine room.
Anderson will come good again, as all good players do, but him losing the ball on 21 occasions merely suggests that he was perhaps trying too hard to get Forest going.
Dyche is renowned for being an excellent man-manager, and now he needs to earn his coin when it comes to Anderson in the second half of the campaign.
Forest typically play better when Anderson is purring and the sooner he rediscovers his best form, the better things will get for the Reds this season.
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