Yahoo News Matz Sels spells out what Nottingham Forest must do to solve costly set-piece problem
Goalkeeper Matz Sels says Nottingham Forest are “committed” to finding a solution for their set-piece woes.
The issue reared its head again in costly fashion on Saturday when the Reds had to settle for a 2-2 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers at the City Ground. They had come from behind to lead through goals from Morgan Gibbs-White and Danilo but were then undone at a corner.
Matheus Cunha netted his second of the game to share the points and make it a league-high 22 goals conceded from dead-ball situations for Forest. With five games left to play, Nuno Espirito Santo’s side sit one point above the relegation zone.
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Next up is a trip to face set-piece specialists Everton in a crucial game at Goodison Park on Sunday. Sels says the Reds will work on their Achilles’ heel in training ahead of the clash, as they do every week, and believes it is down to the players to show the right mentality.
“A couple of days before (matches) we are working on both defensive and offensive set-pieces,” said the Belgian after Saturday’s draw. “It’s been every week that I’ve been here. We are committed to it.
“We work all the time on it. We have changed the system a few times but we keep going and conceding goals like this.
“It’s everybody. It’s not one guy. It’s something everyone needs to do better. We need to be sharper before corners.
“We need to think about it just before the corner, saying, ‘I’m now focusing on the corner,’ but there are other teams we need to analyse. Next week is another important game. We need to stay positive.
“Statistics are important but it’s not only against Everton. It’s every week. We don’t need to focus now only on this. It’s more than this also. Okay, we work on it. Every week. It’s a mentality before the corner - that it’s our ball - and then it has to be our ball.”
Sels might have done better for Wolves’ second at the weekend. The Reds stopper was unable to deal with the ball in after Max Kilman got his head to it and Cunha was able to slot home from close range.
“They touched it after the header so it was difficult,” Sels said. “You need to be lucky after the deflection, and it’s a reflex save. Then you need a defender to be helping you.
“Sometimes you need to be lucky. Even with the first goal, I had a small touch. If I’d pushed it even a couple of centimetres higher it would have been a good save. These small moments in games.”
Sels is convinced the Reds’ set-piece struggles are not due to a lack of height in the team. He wants everyone to show more conviction in their duels as Forest scrap for valuable points in the battle for survival.
“No, it’s just the will to win the duel,” he responded. “If I see how Nico Dominguez came in - he’s not the biggest guy but he came in every duel during the game.
“It’s not about height only or physical things, it’s the will to win the duel. That’s something we can improve upon as a team.”
