FC Utrecht saw their chances of surviving the League Phase of the UEFA Europa League fade away after the home loss to Forest left them in 32nd place with one point from six games.
After surviving the first half against Sean Dyche’s Tricky Trees, it only took seven minutes for Arnaud Kalimuendo to open the scoring in the second half. Mike van der Hoorn’s equaliser was later cancelled out by Igor Jesus’ winner in the 88th minute. How come Utrecht conceded both early and late in the second half?
“We couldn’t find a way through their defence and failed to create chances the way they did at the start,” FC Utrecht manager Ron Jans told Flashscore during the post-game press conference.
“Late in the second half, you saw that they found room in the halfspaces. They were calmer on the ball there - that was the difference today.”
When asked what he saw in Nottingham Forest that he missed in own squad, Jans answered quickly: “€660 million.”
‘They didn’t outclass us’
FC Utrecht kept Nottingham Forest from creating big chances during most of the second half, despite Dyche’s men controlling the final third. “We applied high pressure and played a long field, but they played through it well,” Jans explained.
“They’re a good team. We solved it from the 20th minute on, and after that, they had trouble with us. On the ball, we were much better, too. I don’t think we did too many things wrong. We only conceded the 2-1 three minutes before full-time – they didn’t outclass us, except for the first and final minutes of the second half.”
Despite it all, Jans had one word to summarise Utrecht’s evening: “Sh*t.”
'I heard he didn't know me!'
FC Utrecht played in a sold-out Stadion Galgenwaard and were treated to a pre-game light show from the fans, which made Jans get lost in reality for a second.
"I thought for a moment that I somehow ended up in Star Wars. I'm not that into science fiction, but that was cool."
The experienced Jans hasn't managed many European games - Thursday's clash with Nottingham was his 22nd since starting his managerial career in 2002 - and was told that his peer Sean Dyche didn't know who he was.
The two shared a long conversation before the game - Jans shared the reason why: "I told him that I heard I needed to introduce myself, because he didn't know me! Sean told me he asked about me, and he found out I'm an experienced coach. That was fun."
Chances for other players
With FC Utrecht on just one point after six games, elimination from the UEFA Europa League looks unavoidable. Jans will take the opportunity to give non-starters a chance to show themselves on the European stage, albeit for different reasons.
“I’m absolutely going to give other players opportunities. That also has to do with the number of games we play, or with Sebastien Haller leaving for AFCON with the Ivory Coast – we’ll have to change some things. My starters have built up a lot of credit, though.”
FC Utrecht will finish their first European campaign since the 2010/11 season in January with a home game against KRC Genk and an away game at Scottish giants Celtic.