.The summer of 2023 saw the United States international brought to the City Ground, and at the close of that transfer window, a contract was reached with Arsenal. Turner was rushed into action right away, but he lost his position when it became apparent that he was not able to perform consistently and that he was making mistakes.
MARSCH’S MENTION OF TURNER
Following a highly publicized error against Tottenham in their most recent game, American coach Marsch—who previously worked for Leeds in the Premier League—spoke about Matt Turner’s predicament on the CBS Sports podcast, “Call It What You Want.” Turner faces a difficult task on the second goal. I truly felt he was having a nice match and seemed extremely stable up until that point. In my opinion, Forest occasionally played the ball backwards when they would win balls and had control. Naturally, Tottenham counter-pressed and applied pressure, and the defenders were frequently too carefree while just moving the ball.
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’.”
