Make sure we keep the intensity up.
That seems to be the message that Forest boss Sabri Lamouchi was trying to get across as his team gets set to face Blackburn Rovers tonight. Speaking in his press conference yesterday, Lamouchi spoke about how Blackburn will pose a much greater threat than Stoke City did and the team has to be alert to how they deal with them or risk being put in a difficult situation:
“It will be very tough because they play two games at home and they need to play in a different way to push a lot and try to win, so it will be a tough game for us. If you are not ready, you will suffer like we did at Stoke. We need to be ready mentally, to be strong defensively and be ready to play our football. We will face some situations where we suffer, and if we are not ready to suffer together then it will be a big problem for us.”
Whilst earlier today I somewhat took a shot at Lamouchi for the way he handles the players and their minutes on the pitch, I have to say that he has got one part of the game absolutely spot on.
He talks about mentality, and that is exactly what I saw manifest itself against Stoke City on Friday night. When we went a goal down early on, we didn’t panic and lose sight of the gameplan, we kept on the offensive and managed to hit back with three goals, and could have scored a couple more.
I spoke last week about how we needed to be more aggressive in games, and it seems as if that message has got through to the players. Even if we do concede against Blackburn tonight, at least if we maintain that same level we will have a great chance to get back into the game. I’d rather try for three points and end up getting one than aim for one and end up getting none.
What about you? Are you happy with the mentality that Lamouchi is instilling in the players? Or do you think that there are still a few tweaks that the Frenchman needs to make?
