“If you look at his career and what he’s done, ultimately he’s better of the two”- PL pundit names which Forest goalkeeper should be Steve Cooper’s first choice at City Ground this season
Nottingham Forest handed a debut to Odysseas Vlachodimos against Aston Villa on Sunday and he’s won rave reviews from Darren Fletcher. The goalkeeper was in decent nick as the Reds won 2-0 against the high-flying team.
Vlachodimos signed for Forest from Benfica in the summer transfer window with hours remaining. He cost the club £10 million and has previously played for Stuttgart and Panathinaikos.
Matt Turner was also added to the ranks during the summer. He had been ever-present prior to Sunday but Steve Cooper chose to make a change between the posts this weekend with Vlachodimos starting for Forest.
The TNT Sports lead commentator is a little surprised that it’s taken Vlachodimos this long to get a chance at Forest. On Sunday, he wasn’t truly tasted by a Villa attack that proved wasteful to say the least.
Fletcher does believe, however, that Vlachodimos is built to be the Forest number one from this point. The man who is also the Greece number one looks to have the backing of his manager and it’s unlikely he will lose his place at West Ham next weekend.
Fletcher told The Garibaldi Red Podcast: “I don’t know if Forest have got two number ones. I would expect at this point that Vlachodimos would become the number one at Forest. If you look at his career and what he’s done, he’s played for Stuttgart, played for Panathinaikos, made over 150 appearances for Benfica with some of those in the Champions League and he’s got 35 caps for Greece I think it is.
“He’s very experienced and he’s a man who has played in big competitions and been in big situations. If you look at his resume, you’ve got a player who is significantly different to Matt Turner. I think he will pull away and become the number-one goalkeeper.
“I’m a little bit surprised it’s taken this long because ultimately he’s the better of the two. I like the fact that he was unfussy, quiet, he’s experienced and nothing seems to faze him. He just looks like a number one and I think he will be fine.
Turner had a bit of an erratic outing last month against Brentford. In hindsight, perhaps that would have been a good time for Cooper to give Vlachodimos a chance to shine in the Forest team.
In fairness, Turner did follow that performance against Brentford with a clean sheet at Crystal Palace. The man signed from Arsenal has showcased flashes of the good things but ultimately, he doesn’t bring the experience to Forest that Vlachodimos does.
Fletcher does make some very valid points about the new goalkeeper. Vlachodimos has a brilliant CV to call upon and he will now be desperate to ensure that he’s not playing second fiddle for the remainder of this season at Forest.
