It seems we have our answer.
I have debated in recent days whether or not Forest should play a full-strength side tonight at the Emirates, and it looks as if Forest boss Sabri Lamouchi will be taking the competition seriously when it comes to team selection.
Speaking in his press conference yesterday, Lamouchi spoke about how he’ll be addressing the game and whether or not Forest have a chance in the competition:
“It is easy as I want to put out the best 11 to try to disturb them a little bit and to make the game difficult for them. We know that we don’t have chance to win this competition, we play against a strong team but when you are at Forest, you have to defend your chance, even if it is a half chance, and we must do our best.”
Now whilst I fundamentally disagree with him on him saying we don’t have a chance to win this competition, as Bradford City and Burton Albion have shown in recent years there’s every chance for a team from outside the top division to go deep into it, I do like the fact that he seems willing to give the game a go. You never know unless you try.
That being said, I do not want us to put a full-strength team out tonight in all areas of the pitch. With the league season still in its infancy, I wouldn’t want to risk all of our players. That’s why I think we need to give Chema a run out tonight, and in addition play Brennan Johnson in midfield to give us that little bit more pace ahead of someone like Ben Watson. We do have a chance tonight, and whilst the league may be Lamouchi’s priority, that doesn’t mean we should just give up on a cup run straight away.
What about you? Are you happy with him suggesting that he’s going to play a full-strength team tonight? Or would you rather he make a few changes and focus solely on the league?
