“It was a disappointing moment but it wasn’t because of the third goal at Liverpool”- Steve Cooper finally speaks out on reason for dropping Matt Turner against Aston Villa as USMNT goalie faces fight to reclaim No1 spot
Steve Cooper has explained why Matt Turner was dropped by Nottingham Forest, with the USMNT goalkeeper now facing a fight to win his place back.
The United States international moved to the City Ground during the summer transfer window in the hope of finding regular game time. Opportunities in English football had proved hard to come by for the former New England Revolution star at Arsenal, but Forest slotted him straight into their starting XI.
A costly mistake in a 3-0 defeat at Liverpool – which resulted in Mohamed Salah rolling into an empty net – is considered to have contributed to Turner losing his place in the Forest side after just 11 appearances, with Greek shot-stopper Odysseas Vlachodimos drafted in for a 2-0 victory over Aston Villa.
Explaining his decision to bench Turner, Forest boss Cooper has said: “The first thing I would say about that – and it’s really important – is that it wasn’t on the back of the third goal last week [against Liverpool]. If it was, it would be completely naive and narrow-minded.
“OK, it was a disappointing moment and Matt was the first guy to show that disappointment. But we wouldn’t do that, it’s not who we are and it’s not the culture we’ve created among the players, staff and supporters here. When people make mistakes we support them, we don’t kill them. There’s enough people out there who want to do that, so we get behind people.
“I spoke to Matt early in the week and told him what I was thinking. We’ve been really pleased with Matt and what he’s done for us. If he’s done 10 per cent not so good, he’s done 90 per cent really good things – and that’s where we’re focused. But there’s a couple of things we want to continue his development with and felt this was behind the decision.
“We had a good conversation about it and we made the change. Matt has been outstanding this week, in terms of his work and his commitment. That’s what he is anyway, he couldn’t be anything different. Ody stepped up and had a really good first game for his new club. He was brilliant with his clean-sheet, made a couple of good saves and showed good distribution. It was his first game at home as well, which is always a good one so you can feel what the City Ground has become.”
Nothing against Turner but it’s now hard to see where his next outing comes from at Forest. Vlachodimos is a goalkeeper who plays international football and has also got experience in the Champions League.
Turner will have swapped Arsenal for Forest with first-team football as his sole desire. Now, he faces another waiting game and it’s hard to imagine Vlachodimos losing his place any time soon.
Forest head coach Cooper has spoken quite honestly about his decision and it appears Turner has taken it well. That does bode well for the American and he must now ensure that he’s ready should he be called upon again.
