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Matty Hewitt

Leeds United hammered for 'not knowing what they were doing' against Nottingham Forest

Leon Osman and Nedum Onouha have taken aim at Leeds United's 'awful' performance at Nottingham Forest this weekend. The Whites were bright and showed signs of attacking intent at the City Ground, mainly through youngster Wilfried Gnonto.

However, the youngster was unable to find a way past Keylor Navas in the Forest goal, with Steve Cooper bringing on Serge Aurier to stifle the Italian's threat in the second-half. Gnonto had less of an impact of the game in the second-half, but former Everton midfielder, Osman, claims the other players on the pitch didn't know what they were doing in the final third - piling further pressure on Jesse Marsch.

When asked about Leeds showing a lack of cohesion and no clear signs of patterns of play, Osman told Match of The Day 2: "You say pattern - I mean, we're saying that Gnonto was stopped by Aurier in the second-half, when you've made signings, when you've got your team, there's ten other players on the field. What's your pattern of play? What are you trying to do?

READ MORE: Leeds United sent Wilfried Gnonto warning after Nottingham Forest defeat

"Who's going to stand up and try and create something? Leeds were awful in that second half they had 75 per cent of the possession in the second-half and they had an XG [expected goals] of 0.2. They didn't know what to do with it. They kept going down the left-hand side.

"Aurier didn't let Gnonto have an opportunity so they came back into the middle and just give the ball away. They had nobody running into spaces, they had no 'let's play it up to the strikers and find a patter to create an opportunity. They didn't know what to do and gave it away time after time."

Patrick Bamford was critical of the lack of forward runners beyond him in the defeat. However, former Man City defender, Onouha, says the Leeds United striker should have done better.

He said: "It's an interesting one, it's a very interesting one. I don't think he had his best day at all today but maybe he could see something. I would say most number nines that we'd see out there, I'd expect them to be able to- not dominate in a two vs one - but understand the role that is there.

"Gnonto was great in the first-half but you could see in the second-half, although Nottingham Forest didn't have possession, they were comfortable. I think ultimately, those runs may have made a difference but it just wasn't going to be their day today."

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