Nottingham Forest played Manchester United last night and Nicolas Dominguez proved how important he is without actually kicking a ball for the Reds.
Forest bowed out of the FA Cup following a late sucker punch from Casemiro in added time at the end of the second half.
For Forest star Dominguez, it was a night on the substitutes bench – and it’s a situation that shouldn’t become the norm for the 11-cap Argentina star.
Nicolas Dominguez is so important to Nottingham Forest
Ryan Yates is typically the Forest player who gets lauded for simply running around a lot and making himself a nuisance.
However, in a system that deploys only two central midfielders, Nuno Espirito Santo needs more than the mandatory requisite for a professional footballer.
In the middle of the park, he does need the energy of a player of Yates’ ilk, but he also needs someone, like Dominguez, who can bring footballing ability too.
Last night, Forest seriously missed the 25-year-old as Manchester United were allowed to dominate the closing stages of the game and ultimately pop up with a late winner.
Dominguez wasn’t introduced at all last night – and he proved his worth to the current Forest team without actually kicking a ball against the Red Devils.
Dominguez hopefully well-rested for Saturday
It was perhaps a little bit harsh for the Argentine to come out of the starting eleven in the first place.
However, it did seem as though Espirito Santo was keen to change a few things, with a number of players getting minutes.
Matt Turner, Divock Origi and Yates all started when they haven’t been doing on a regular basis in recent weeks.
Darren Fletcher is a huge fan of Dominguez, with the TNT commentator previously calling him ‘fantastic’ earlier in the season.
Who Scored highlights the importance of Forest midfielder Dominguez.
No Forest player has made more tackles than the 55 that he’s made this season.
Furthermore, he’s also made more successful short passes than any other central midfielder who still remains at the football club.
Perhaps more crucially, he also gives away fewer fouls than Yates, with the academy graduate making 20 more than Dominguez across the campaign.
Espirito Santo will have learned a lot about his team last night – and in truth, the contest could have gone either way.
The importance of Dominguez to the way the Portuguese manager wants to play was so evident, however – and he didn’t even kick a ball!
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