Matt Turner faces the threat of being dropped again by Nottingham Forest, but Jesse Marsch has explained why the USMNT star should keep his place.
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Snapped up from ArsenalHas been in & out of Reds teamLooking to impress new bossWHAT HAPPENED?
The United States international was taken to the City Ground during the summer of 2023, with a deal struck with Arsenal towards the end of that transfer window. Turner was immediately thrown into action, but lost his spot as questions began to be asked of his ability to perform on a consistent basis – with errors creeping into his game.
AdvertisementGettyWHAT MARSCH SAID ABOUT TURNER
A high-profile mistake was made last time out against Tottenham, with Steve Cooper being relieved of his managerial duties since then, and American coach Marsch – who has worked in the Premier League at Leeds – has told the podcast for CBS Sports of the situation that Turner faces: “Matt Turner obviously has a tough one on the second goal. Up until then, I actually thought he was having a good match and looked really stable. Sometimes for me, Forest was playing the ball backwards unnecessarily, where they would win balls and would have possession – of course Tottenham was counter pressing and putting pressure on them – the defenders were too relaxed often in just playing the ball backwards and sometimes putting Turner in a difficult spot. Obviously he makes a mistake – first in the distribution, when he goes to clear the ball it goes straight to Kulusevski, and then when Kulusevski hits the shot, it kind of goes through his arms. At that moment, Turner was feeling the pressure of making that first mistake. You have to ask is this a little bit to do with, ‘we start with Turner and then we make a change and put him back in’. This is always a bit of a trouble that you can get into as a manager, when you are messing around with the goalkeeper position a little bit too much. I felt bad for Turner, it was obviously a mistake for the second goal and it was a shame because I thought he was in the match in a good way up until that moment.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE
The big question now is whether Turner will keep his starting berth for Nuno Espirito Santo’s first game in charge of Forest against Bournemouth on Saturday. Marsch added on what he hopes has been going on behind the scenes and why Turner should get a show of faith from his new manager: “I would probably now sit down with the goalkeeper coach and with the staff and talk about ‘where are we in this, what is the direction we go now?’ For me, I don’t think that Matt Turner warranted being benched in the first place. When you are Forest, every game is tough and points are not easy to gain and win. You have to stay strong and you need stability in the back. This is one of the most important things. Then you have to make a decision together, and it’s going to be a difficult decision either way at this point. Do you keep going with him or do you make the move again? Personally, you have to think long-term with this decision. Obviously there is pressure for Nottingham Forest and they are slipping down the table, but right now if they continue this switch with the goalkeeper position, they are only going to cause problems for themselves. I would right now sit down, have a discussion with the staff and then bring Matt Turner in – with the goalkeeper coach – sit him down and say ‘you are our guy, you are what we need, we’ve got your back, keep going, have confidence, be ready for the next match, let’s go again’.”
GettyWHAT NEXT FOR TURNER?
Turner had been hoping to make the No.1 spot his own after struggling for game time at Arsenal, but he is yet to truly convince and he may not get the minutes that he craves heading into a big 2024 for the USMNT that will see them taking in CONCACAF Nations League and Copa America competition.