Nottingham Forest defeat to Norwich must put an end to midfield dysfunction

Add as preferred source on Google

With lots of new players to blend into his squad, it has been something of an experimental campaign so far for Nottingham Forest boss Aitor Karanka.

The Reds splashed the cash in the summer with several new players arriving at the City Ground in an attempt to try and bolster a push towards the Premier League.

Saturday’s defeat to Norwich was only the second of the campaign for Forest but it indicated a firm sign that Karanka isn’t totally sure on what his best starting line-up is just yet.

One problematic issue for him to try and come up with a solution for is in the middle of the park where Jack Colback and Ben Watson have seemed incapable of working in tandem.

The question of whether the partnership works reared its ugly head once more on Saturday, with their presence on the pitch together stifling any real creativity that the Reds might have hoped to throw at their opponents.

It has to be said that the pair worked well in unison during a recent victory over Middlesbrough. It is now quite clear, however, that Watson and Colback simply cannot play together when the Reds are at the City Ground.

With lots of varying options in the middle of the park for Karanka to choose from it seems far more logical that he picks a more attacking player to play alongside either Watson or Colback in the future.

If nothing else, the defeat to Norwich City should at least have gone a long way towards putting the midfield conundrum to bed for the Forest boss.