Nottingham Forest head coach Steve Cooper expressed frustration with his team’s first half performance in their 2-1 defeat to Arsenal. The striker had not been fit enough to start, having just recovered from an ankle problem, but he made a difference when he came on – as did Anthony Elanga, who set up the goal. Fellow debutant Ola Aina also impressed amid positives for the visitors, certainly compared to last season’s 5-0 thumping at the Emirates.
Steve Cooper said: “I’m frustrated with the first half. Arsenal are a really good team and have strengthened from last year. Lots of our team are still getting up to speed. It was always going to be a really tough challenge. At half-time, we questioned ourselves in terms of competing. We needed to back ourselves in the duels. They dominated and had territory. We were always going to have to play that mid to low block, fast attack game, which we had a lot of success with at the end of last season. What we didn’t do quite right was compete strong enough within the duels and show enough quality on the turnovers. Arsenal are excellent, but we had a real chance in the first half with Brennan. Second half, we showed a bit more quality and belief that we belong at this level. It then leaves a feeling of what might have been in a game which was really tough.”
