Carvalho – Still Key - the Nottingham Sport

On Monday night Nottingham Forest Football Club needed a lift. 2-1 down against relegation threatened Middlesbrough and not playing very well at a half empty Riverside Stadium under the lights we all too familiar with how it all works probably thought to ourselves… ‘It’s just one of those nights’…

Enter the diminutive little Portuguese Playmaker that all us fans (well most) still have affection for. The efforts after coming on as a 69^th minute substitute for Sammy Ameobi not entirely lifting the team on his own to eventually earn a point but in doing what he does best, making things happen, looking to manipulate the play, keen to get on the ball and create opportunity. Joao Carvalho still for me has a big part to play for this football club.

The €15m record signing from Benfica has been used sparingly by Sabri Lamouchi this season. Why? If you want my humble opinion I don’t think Lamouchi thinks Carvalho gives Forest ‘enough’ off the ball.

A young man who was a delight to watch at times and a key cog in the previous underwhelming campaign under both Aitor Karanka and (eventually) Martin O’Neill simply ‘not fancied’ by the Frenchman who instead prefers a little more aggression and workrate in midfield (with the complementation of Tiago Silva giving the likes of Watson & Sow exactly what Sabri needs in defence) and a little more pace and strength out wide (enter Joe Lolley & Sammy Ameobi who give a more consistent threat going forward than Carvalho).

But despite this obvious concern by Sabri, it seems the 22 year old is still keen to prove him wrong, it feels Carvalho likes this club, he likes this city, his girlfriend has just opened a clothes shop here and you never see him complain often frequently shown applauding and celebrating goals on the clubs intrusive bench cam.

But we all know Carvalho is better than that… He’s far more than a cheerleader and he’s above Championship level substitute at his best…. We all remember Hildeberto Pereira for example… Eric Lichaj perhaps? Players that might not be as talented but would run through brick walls for the club and players that given the choice would probably have stayed at Nottingham Forest had the club wanted to keep them too.. Carvalho is different… He would instead run around the brick wall, but I really get the feeling he wants to stay.

Maybe the injury in pre-season didn’t get him off to the best start with Sabri, he couldn’t show what he was all about and Sabri couldn’t coach him into his initial philosophy, but since his first cameo of the season coming on as substitute in the emphatic League Cup win over Derby, Carvalho has underwhelmed his Manager more often than he’s appeased his fans.

In 21 league appearances this season (many from the bench) he has scored just one goal, all be it a cracker against QPR but in just one of those games Carvalho has played a full 90 minutes, during the heavy home loss against Sheffield Wednesday in December where he was perhaps made a scapegoat on a very bad day at the office.

Since then Carvalho has started just once in the league for the Reds, 55 minutes verses Wigan with a few substitute appearances hardly adding up to any more than a complete game of football this year. Three months of sub not used, not in the squad, ten minutes here, a minute there, and this for a footballer that was tipped going into the campaign to be our leading creative star.

And whilst the love for Carvalho has dwindled the affection for another Portuguese midfielder, Tiago Silva, who plays in Carvalho’s position has grown, tigerish in his play but with the ability to unlock defences too… Tiago is currently out injured, sidelined with appendicitis and absent for a few weeks… This however paves the door back open for Carvalho who can fill the void left by a player similar in style, perhaps not as creative but better when off the ball?

I actually understand Lamouchi’s stance on Carvalho… But I wonder if playing him ‘at the right times’ and ‘in the right games’ is a much better tactical approach rather than to ignore him completely?

Following an impressive half hour against Middlesbrough calls now for Carvalho to start on Friday night against Millwall will rightly be rewarded, but in hindsight, against a footballing side Carvalho should of perhaps started at the Riverside, whilst Millwall on a Friday night may rather suit the physical likes of Ryan Yates or Alfa Semedo instead?

I still believe there is a place for Carvalho and Silva (when fit) in the Forest team (together), I feel there’s a place for him in attack above anyone else when the likes of Ameobi & Lolley are missing.. But now due to Silva’s absence is an opportunity (*subject to Manager’s approval) that Carvalho can take and grab by the horns, because not playing Carvalho means that instead we’ll be looking to the likes of Diakhaby and when we compare the two players technique, ability, confidence, quality and even strength defensively to hold his own… There’s only one player that Forest fans would want to see selected.

Let’s face it he’s waited in the wings long enough… Now it’s time he had his chance and be given a fair crack by Sabri to show us and the rest of the league and indeed his Manager just what he can do.