Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper tore into his players

‘We don’t just have to take that on the chin – we have to deal with it’: Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper tears into his players following 5-0 defeat by Arsenal… claiming ‘frustrating’ display could ‘cost’ them in the long run

  • Forest boss Steve Cooper tore into his players after their clash with Arsenal 
  • The Premier League new-boys were in the game at half-time as it was only 1-0
  • However, they conceded four in the second half to round off a miserable day
  • Cooper refused to sugar coat his team’s display at Arsenal on Sunday afternoon  

Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper tore into his players after watching them get embarrassed away at Arsenal.

The Premier League new-boys were in the game at half-time, going in with a 1-0 deficit.

But they conceded four in the second half to round off a miserable afternoon for Forest.

Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper tore into his players after their defeat to Arsenal 

And Cooper refused to sugar coat his team’s display, despite the fact they were facing the Premier League leaders.

‘We don’t just have to take that on the chin – we have to deal with it,’ said the Forest boss.

‘We fell way short today in terms of competing. Of course we could have played really well here and not go anything out of the game. It was always going to be a tough game.

The Premier League new-boys were in the game at half-time, going in with a 1-0 deficit

However, Arsenal went on to score four more goals to lose the game 5-0 on Sunday afternoon

But in competitive sport, the bare minimum you have to do is to stand up and be counted and fight and be hard to beat. And we just didn’t do that at the start of the game.

‘The start of the second half, we were nowhere near competitive enough. I can’t think of tackles, or even fouls, that can happen when you compete and even bookings.

‘Players running past us, one-twos etc, in the end, if you are not going to do that, particularly at this level you are going to get hurt.

‘It is frustrating because it is something we have made good steps on in the last few weeks.

 Cooper refused to sugar coat his team’s display, despite the fact they were facing the leaders

‘But to take more than a step backward in that part of the game today is more than frustrating and it ended up costing us.’

Speaking about substitute Reiss Nelson’s brace, Gunners boss Mikel Arteta added: ‘I think not only me but all his team-mates, all the staff are so happy for him because he is a kid that is really changing, he’s really evolving he’s really maturing.

‘He’s showing every day how much he wants it and today he had the opportunity, and he did extremely well because it helped us win the game.’




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