RLB POST FOREST

Football Scientist, Régis Le Bris, was delighted with his side’s 1-0 victory at Nottingham Forest. The Red and White Wizards battled bravely and Omar Alderete scored the winner. Great day out…

PROUD

“It was our first away win in the league, so I’m really proud of our fans and our squad because we worked hard. They have many threats and are really good on the ball. After we scored the first goal, their substitutions added five more attackers, but we expected that. We defended well with the back five. The players were really well connected, they worked hard, and we had a good goalkeeper.”

LOW BLOCK

“If you defend with an open block, they will punish you. We expected to be a bit more comfortable or confident at times. We can’t always manage the situation with only 11 players. Last week we had to change the game plan after 35 minutes, and it was the same today. We defended with 10 men for more than an hour, just like last week, and we had to do it again after scoring. We are ready for this fight. Of course, you need a bit of luck sometimes because they weren’t clinical, but when it comes our way, we have to take it. We need a captain like Granit because he gives us so much. He can control the rhythm, and he understands the game like a future coach - the game model and how to manage it in real time.”

DEFEND

“We can't expect anything if we don't defend properly. Nottingham Forest are really good on the ball, many threats, many different profiles, wingers, strikers, midfielders, even the defenders are really good on the ball. So it was obvious coming here we had to defend really well, mid-block, low-block even a bit higher in the first half, we did well, not perfectly but enough to keep a clean sheet.

POSITIVE

“The result is positive but when you look at the different phases and moments in the game we have many things to improve. We are at the level for some of the parts but for others it's pretty obvious we have to improve. For example, the way we build-up the play under pressure. There's room for improvement.

ELEVEN

“The most important thing is to have 11 points. When you can win points, do it because it's not easy. We can't become complacent. That's absolutely impossible. The lads are well connected with this idea. They are proud to win away but aware that we have to be better in many points in our game model.”

MASUAKU

“It was the most natural option, left-back for a left-back. He did well. It wasn't easy because he got a yellow card early in the game and their wingers are really powerful and strong in one vs one, so it was an important decision to change after 60 minutes. It's still a question of momentum and feeling during the week. We analysed the previous game deeply so we can feel the dynamic and the consistency is really important so I didn't want to change to go to a back five early in the game. It worked well even if it wasn't perfect.”