Nottingham Forest drew 3-3 with Norwich City after being 3-0 up at Carrow Road and supporters have blamed Michael Hefele for the part he played in their Boxing Day collapse. The Reds defender was accused of looking out of sorts against the Canaries and was labelled a liability by fans for his performance on the day.
Hefele made two tackles, four interceptions, seven clearances and blocked three shots, but he was unconvincing at the back and has failed to shut out another side as Forest’ winless run was extended to four games. The 28-year-old bore the brunt of the criticism on social media as Norwich scored twice in injury time to go from 3-1 down to 3-3 at full-time.
Need a new CB then fox/hefele not good enough
— kyle booth (@kylebooth3186) December 26, 2018
Even at 2 nil we didn't look comfortable, hefele looks clumsy and slow, no confidence in darikwa when hes defending, janko not good enough and dias is sooo weak my 6yr granddaughter could get the ball from him
— andy matthewman (@mattynffc) December 26, 2018
darikwa, hefele, dias, murphy all awful today. dont deserve to play for @NFFC . pantilimon was ok today cash top draw as was colback again. something needs to be done with this club. norwich was poor today and we gave away a 3-0 lead its just poor.
— Alex Smith (@AlexThaKid94) December 26, 2018
Hefele the 4th choice and our biggest weakness.
— Neil Cooper (@mynameisneil) December 26, 2018
Hefele showing how much of a liability he is again #nffc
— byron (@Byron_nffc) December 26, 2018
Hefele has made 13 Championship appearances this season and is currently only filling in for the injured Michael Dawson and Tobias Figueiredo. Until Forest can welcome back their first-choice options in defence, they could struggle to keep the goals out. Their Boxing Day draw sees them 10th in the division with 36 points from 24 games, winless in their last four.
Since Hefele was reintroduced to the starting eleven in late-November, Forest have only picked up one league win.
Crippy Cooke’s previous article
‘Absolute disgrace’ – some fans fume at Aitor Karanka for subbing Nottingham Forest duo