🚨 Jamie Carragher on Liam Delap’s performance for Nottingham Forest against Arsenal: “People will see the scoreline, see Arsenal winning 1-0 and say Forest were poor. But I completely disagree. I thought Arsenal were the disappointing team in this encounter. Forest had some of the best attacking moments, the better movement of the ball and opportunities to hurt Arsenal, but they failed to take their chances. And I want to talk about Liam Delap because I genuinely enjoyed watching that young man tonight. Looking at how his career has gone, I think he might have found the right environment at Nottingham Forest. At Chelsea or Manchester United, every performance comes with enormous pressure. One bad game and people are questioning your ability, your transfer fee and your future. Sometimes, young players need a club where they can develop without that constant attention. Brighton could also be a good club for him, considering how they develop young players, but Forest are giving him an opportunity to grow and become an important part of the team. Tonight, his touch, movement off the ball, link-up play and willingness to take on Arsenal’s defenders were impressive. He kept asking questions, kept making runs and gave Forest an attacking presence. He didn’t simply wait for the ball; he worked to create opportunities for himself and his teammates. For me, he deserves serious consideration for the man-of-the-match award, although I doubt he’ll get it because Forest lost. That’s the problem with football sometimes: people allow the scoreline to determine how they judge individual performances. If Forest had won 1-0, we’d be talking about Delap as one of the outstanding players of the match. Arsenal should be relieved to take these three points because Forest gave them plenty to worry about. This wasn’t a game where Arsenal completely dominated and Forest had nothing to offer. Forest made them work, created dangerous situations and showed that they could compete with them. The difference was that Arsenal took their opportunity while Forest didn’t take enough of theirs. Ultimately, Forest have themselves to blame for the missed chances, and they’ll need to be more clinical moving forward. But Delap has plenty to be encouraged about. He’s still developing, and there are areas of his game he must improve, particularly his finishing, but the qualities are there. Sometimes, the team loses, but a player wins a little more belief in himself. Liam Delap can take that from tonight, and Nottingham Forest should continue building around the qualities he showed.”

🚨🎙️ Michael Owen on Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest: "If you watched the game today, you will find out that Arsenal didn’t play their best game today. Far from it. In fact, if we are being completely honest, Nottingham Forest were the better side for large spells of the match, and should they have won? Maybe. They created enough to leave with all three points. But that’s not how football works, sadly. This is precisely what separates champions and real title contenders from the rest of the pack. When you're playing at your fluid best and winning 3-0 or 4-0, anyone can look good. But champions find a way when they are well below their best. They know how to hustle out a win from a very tight, uncomfortable situation. Arsenal stayed patient, dug deep, and grabbed that goal when it mattered most. At the end of the season, nobody looks back at how pretty the performance was in October—they just look at the points tally. Finding a way to win on days where you don't deserve it is the hallmark of a side that goes all the way."