This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
Out of sight, and possibly out of mind as well?
Having arrived on loan from Benfica in the summer, Alfa Semedo has made a bit of a rocky start to life in England, and it got even rockier a few weeks ago.
The midfielder currently finds himself injured having picked up a knock in the build-up to the Arsenal game and has not been seen since.
The question is though; will he be in contention once he finds his way back to fitness?
On the chalkboard
With Nottingham Forest alternating between a 4-3-3 formation and a 4-2-3-1 depending on how far up the pitch they want to play Joao Carvalho, the only way he is likely to be a long term success at the City Ground is as a partner for the likes of Samba Sow as the defensive midfielder in the 4-2-3-1.
He is unlikely to dislodge Sow from his place as the team’s primary defensive midfielder, as he has more or less cemented his place in front of that back four.
With an average of 4.2 tackles and 2.1 interceptions per game, the best of all the Forest squad, his place is secure.
A lot of that is going to depend on the form of Sow’s current partner Ben Watson.
The 34-year-old has been holding down the fort in his absence and has done an impressive job, so impressive that he finds himself nominated for the club’s Player of the Month award, and being second too. But will he be able to continue this form when we come back from the international break?
Having played the majority of his career as a defensive midfielder, it wouldn’t make sense for him to change and be pushed further up the field to partner someone like Joao Carvalho as his passing stats leave something to be desired.
Averaging 15.9 passes per game and a completion rate of just 66.1% he’s not exactly the kind of person you’d want creating plays.
If you look back in his past career, he was a much more effective at the role than he has been at Forest, completing north of 80% of his passes in rare appearances for Benfica and Espanyol.
His numbers have just seen a decrease since he’s moved to England, perhaps as a result of adjusting to new surroundings. So there is a good player in there, it just needs to be coaxed out of him.
