Steve Cooper heaps praise on £15m Nottingham Forest player
Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper has moved to praise defender Murillo after his performance against Crystal Palace.
Forest headed away to Selhurst Park on Saturday evening, seeking a rare Premier League away win.
Cooper’s men would have won this on another day with Murillo heavily involved in two key chances.
The Brazilian defender played a beautiful ball over the top of the Palace back line with Morgan Gibbs-White lobbing the ball over Sam Johnstone and onto the post.
Murillo then tried to take matters into his own hands, dancing past Palace players before forcing not one but two saves from Johnstone.
Forest took 16 shots but just couldn’t find a winner, instead having to settle for a 0-0 draw in South London.
Steve Cooper hails Nottingham Forest defender Murillo
Forest appear to have signed a real cult hero in Murillo.
The centre back joined Forest from Corinthians on the eve of deadline day, moving for around £15million.
Murillo was very impressive against Brentford last week and even better against Palace.
Fans are already loving Murillo and boss Cooper appears to feel the same way.
Speaking to BBC Sport after Saturday’s win, Cooper suggested that he knows the attention will be on Murillo’s sparkling run forward, but wanted to draw attention to his defending.
Cooper highlighted that Murillo is doing the nasty side of the game well considering that he is still adjusting to life in England.
Cooper added that Murillo has been impressing in training and we are now seeing that in the Premier League.
“That will catch the attention, of course – I wish he’d scored, but maybe that’s next,” said Cooper. “He defended very well, positionally he was really good, he was composed and you want your centre backs to be able to do both parts of the game sometimes.”
“We know that we’re going to have to defend at times more than we attack, that’s fine, there is no shame in that, and we need centre backs to do what our pair did tonight.”
“If Murillo is doing that at 21, when he’s learning the language and he’s not long in the country, then the signs are good. He’s a really good boy, we’re really enjoying working with him. We held him back a little bit when he first came over, we knew we were signing a talent anyway but then to see him in training, it was just a matter of time of trying to pick the right moment to put him in,” he added.
Murillo stats v Crystal Palace
The 21-year-old looks to have enormous potential but he is making a very immediate impact in a Forest shirt.
Murillo was outstanding on Saturday night, racking up two tackles, three clearances, one blocked shot and one successful aerial duel.
Going forward, Murillo notched two key passes, two shots on target and two successful dribbles, showing off his ability on the ball.
Forest will have to manage expectations a little after Saturday’s superb display, but Murillo appears to be a top talent not just for the future, but for right now too.
