Ever since the heroics of Brice Samba during Nottingham Forest’s promotion-winning journey, the Tricky Trees have failed to recruit a permanent replacement at the City Ground.
The goalkeeper will always be remembered as a hero for saving three penalties in the 2022 play-off semi-final, and keeping a clean sheet in the subsequent showpiece as Forest defeated Huddersfield Town.
Matt Turner, Odysseas Vlachodimos, and recent signing Matz Sels have all attempted to live up to the standards of the French shot-stopper in Nottingham, yet they haven’t reached his level.
However, the Reds have had a keeper since Samba’s exit that had the potential to become their number one for years to come, but he is no longer at the club.
Matz Sels’ start at Forest
Sels only moved to Forest last month for a fee of £5m, in what was a busy month for the club, both on and off the field.
The Belgian star in between the sticks has had a tough start to life in Nottingham, with Nuno Espírito Santo’s side drawing 1-1 on his debut against Bournemouth and losing 3-2 to former club Newcastle United at the weekend.
Against the Cherries, Sels didn’t have a save to make, and his saving ability wasn’t tested at all, however, he was proactive and made two clearances. That said, the downside to his game was his passing, with the former Strasbourg ace having 59% pass accuracy
.On his City Ground debut, the keeper did make two saves in the game, but what will concern the Forest faithful is the fact that his goals prevented was -1.98, meaning that he should have dealt with the attempts for the goals much better.
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