Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper bemoaned his side’s defending as they lost 3-0 at Old Trafford on Tuesday night.
Manchester United were too strong for the newly promoted side as Jesse Lingard received an ovation following his return to Old Trafford. Nottingham Forest had a goal disallowed in the early stages of the second half but they offered very little threat throughout the match and their defending was appalling.
Two quick-fire goals in the first half — from Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial — put Cooper’s side on the back foot. It was another kick in the teeth for them to see Willy Boly’s goal overturned by VAR.
However, Cooper was frustrated with how Forest defended against United as well as their lack of quality in the final third.
“The goals are a killer in terms of a set piece where some players have clearly not stuck to their responsibilities,” Cooper told Amazon Prime after the game, as quoted by Sky Sports.
“And then (for the second) we are in a half-decent position in United’s box and nothing has come of it but to then give up the territory and the space we did.
“I wouldn’t say we gifted them a goal because they had to work for it a little bit but we talked so much about trying to play on a small pitch tonight in terms of where we wanted them to have the space.
“It was around their back four not ours which is what the game looked like. So yeah, really frustrating with the goals.”
He added: “I just felt like we could have backed ourselves a bit more in the game. We got in between the lines two or three times in the first-half and we didn’t make a difference with it.
“In the end at this level you do have to make the most of those situations.
“They were better than us on the night so I don’t want to sound too naive but we weren’t in the first-half getting carved open and we conceded from a set-play and a counter-attack.
“We had some good territory ourselves in the second-half we just didn’t show enough quality and enough belief and how good we can be and that is what I’ve just said to the boys.”
Forest need to improve in the second half of the season or they will end up back in the Championship. The result leaves them in 19th place.
