Nottingham Forest’s great start to the season

Nottingham Forest supporters are on cloud nine at the moment. The reason? THE Reds are not in the soft underbelly of the Premier League, as may have been the case in previous seasons. They managed to do much better than that. After ten days of the championship, Nottingham Forest occupies third place in the Premier League standings, behind the two behemoths of Liverpool and Manchester City. A first since 1988. A position that the club from the east of England has not deserved, but which may be surprising in view of the results of Nottingham’s previous seasons and its management which left something to be desired.

Owned by Greek businessman Evangelos Marinakis since his takeover in 2017, Forest returned to the elite of English football in 2022, 23 years after its last appearance. Eager to continue in PL, the Tricky Trees had been talked about for their colossal expenses and their numerous recruits. Nottingham Forest notably spent 161.95 million euros on 21 recruits on the transfer market in the summer two years ago. Enough to allow Steve Cooper to put together a team capable of remaining in the English elite. This is also what the Scottish coach managed to do during the 2022-2023 season. But subsequently, the multiple setbacks of his team led to his dismissal in December 2023. To replace him, Nottingham called on Nuno Espirito Santo. The former Wolverhampton manager was on a mission to keep Forest in the PL. A successful objective, not without difficulty – Nottingham having received four penalty points for breaching the financial rules of the Premier League – with a 17th place result last season.

An ambitious tactic, a Chris Wood on fire

For this third consecutive season in the PL, the objective of the residents of the City Ground was the same. But it is clear that the English club is currently doing better than expected. In its first ten league matches, Nottingham only suffered one defeat, against Fulham (0-1). Victorious five times, Nuno Espirito Santo’s squad is the only team to have beaten Liverpool this season (0-1), in mid-September. A fan of 4-2-3-1, this formation does not shine with its possession of the ball (41.5% on average since the start of the season). But by its defensive base in place (second best defense), embodied by the duo Nikola Milenković – Murillo in central defense, and by its compact block which allows it to press its opponent high, with Nicolás Domínguez and Ryan Yates in the middle. Once the ball is recovered, the team projects in numbers, using the speed of its wingers – Callum Hudson-Odoi and Anthony Elanga – and the projection in the half-spaces of its attacking midfielders – Morgan Gibbs-White or Elliot Anderson – to find Chris Wood at the conclusion.

The New Zealand international is undoubtedly the name that gets talked about the most on the Forest side. Rewarded by the Premier League for his thunderous month of October, the 32-year-old has found the net eight times since the start of the season. Only Erling Haaland does better than him. Permanently transferred to Nottingham from Newcastle in July 2023, the Auckland native will find the Magpiesthis Sunday during the 11th day of PL. With the ambition to undermine his former team and allow Nottingham to continue their good momentum.