Thought Yates played some great passes. Hope his injury isn't too serious.
Cafu not so good tonight, but far from rubbish. Whole team just wasn't on it.
Yates is decent enough when we're playing the less good sides in the league. With time and space, his sideways and backwards passes help the team.
However, against better opponents, who cut his space, Yates' weaknesses are more exposed.
There was a moment in the second half where, both, positive and negative aspects of his game were highlighted.
Just outside the centre circle in Forest's half, he had the ball and was immediately surrounded by three players.
On a difficult surface his control seemed to let him down; so, he did what he always does and turned back to defence.
Unfortunately, the centre-backs had pushed up, presumably following Hughton's instructions to play a higher line.
Thus, Ryan was left in a difficult spot: his control had let him down and an easy out ball suddenly became a lot more difficult.
Boro disposed him and attacked an unprepared defence holding a high-line with space in behind.
To his credit, and the positive in his play, Yates’ first reaction was to retreat further, get goalside and throw his body in front of their player.
To me, it encapsulated the dilemma for his and Forest’s progression.
If Forest’s aim is just to survive, losing against Boro (whilst infuriating) is possibly acceptable. Our midfield couldn’t live with theirs, and there is no shame in that.
Beating teams like Barnsley is where our season will be defined (as someone noted).
Their players aren’t as good as Boro’s, and one would imagine an easier opponent for Yates to handle.