One or the other, you can’t have both.

That seems to be the rationale when it comes to team selection in the eyes of former Forest player Colin Barrett.

He says that there is only room for one of either Tiago Silva and Joao Carvalho when it comes to the starting eleven.

What’s been said?

In an interview with Seat Pitch, Barrett said that both players offer something different to the game, and that it is hard for Lamouchi to pick between one or the other:

“It’s an interesting one because they are both quite different. Tiago has the box-to-box aspect, the graft and the eye for a pass. Joao has the flair and the ability to take risks – he’s the luxury that you simply have to cater for. Ultimately though as the season progresses they will fight for one shirt.”

It’s not impossible

Whilst Barrett may seem to think that it’s a case of one or the other, it’s not impossible for the two to work together.

In the 4-2-3-1 formation, as previously discussed, Samba Sow will be the predominant defensive midfielder because of his ability to protect the back four.

It’s then left to the two of them to be responsible for the attacking aspect of midfield.

Going back to what Barrett said there’s an argument for them both to operate in the same team. That is something that could be done by having Silva alongside Sow in front of the back four.

You’d then be able to push Carvalho forward to act as the more creative player fashioning chances for the likes of Lewis Grabban and Joe Lolley in and around the penalty area.

Both Silva and Carvalho have high pass completion percentage rates of 78% and 81.8% respectively, so they both keep the play ticking over.

Therefore, instead of sacrificing one over the other why not let both of their talents shine in the middle of midfield and create as many chances for the attacking players as possible?

Something like this would definitely boost their desires of securing a promotion or playoff place.