Nuno Espirito Santo's counter-attacking style is the perfect fit for Forest

When Steve Cooper was sacked in December Forest hovered just outside the relegation zone with 14 points from 17 matches, the wheels truly off a project that had brought joy back to the City Ground but had looked doomed for a while.

To many fans, Nuno’s arrival signalled the beginning of the end. His appointment was underwhelming only because a disastrous 124 days in charge of Tottenham Hotspur had tarnished the reputation of a manager who had enjoyed big success at Valencia and Wolves. Banished to Saudi Arabia to lick his wounds, it was assumed his traumatic experience in north London was career-ending.

Forest fans should be thankful it was not, and they should be thankful Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis’s close links with Jorge Mendes led to the recommendation Nuno be brought out of semi-retirement, because by sheer accident Nuno and Forest are a perfect fit.

A disciple of Jose Mourinho (Nuno’s manager when FC Porto won the Champions League), Nuno is a throwback to a bygone era of cagey defensive tactics mixed with breakneck counter-attacks, which just so happened to be the style of football Cooper had adopted as results worsened and Forest were forced into retreat.

The idea is disarmingly simple. Forest sit right back, refusing to press at all in order to absorb pressure and spring-load a break once the ball is won back. It requires a target man, Chris Wood, to get on the end of long balls forward; pinpoint set-piece delivery, something new signing James Ward-Prowse can provide; and rapid wingers to make up the yards.

Callum Hudson-Odoi, Anthony Elanga, and Morgan Gibbs-White are tailor-made for Nuno’s football, for example, and it is no surprise that so far in 2024/25 Forest top the Premier League charts for fast breaks (10) and shots from fast breaks (9).

Clearly the plan is working. And it has been for quite some time.

Until now praise for Nuno has been in short supply because despite winning 22 points from 21 Premier League games Forest ended last season on a meagre 32 points, the fewest ever accrued by a team who survived the drop. Essentially Nuno’s work went unnoticed because four of his points were pinched back for PSR breaches and because Cooper’s half-season meant the Nuno era began with Forest in the mire.

A fresh campaign has wiped the slate clean for Forest and for Nuno, who after a brilliant summer transfer window is beginning to reap what was sewn in that unassuming but effective opening six months in the role.

Forest are unbeaten after four games and have won at Anfield. Prior to beating Liverpool, a game in which Forest were bound to be on the defensive, Nuno’s side topped the Premier League charts for shots taken (53). Four games into the new season only Liverpool and Manchester City have a better expected goals against figure than Forest’s 3.05.

Forest are notably improved in the second half of 2023/24, then, and most of that progress can be put down to their new signings.

Elliot Anderson, operating as an attacking number eight, has added creativity to what had previously been a stodgy midfield, although his hard work as a winger in the 1-0 win over Liverpool showcased his versatility.

Nikola Milenkovic has instantly formed a strong partnership with Murillo in central defence, the pair having kept clean sheets in two their first three Premier League games together. It is the one area Forest truly struggled last year but just a single £10 million signing appears to have created one of the most effective centre-back pairings in the division.

The other glaring flaw was attacking set-pieces, from which Forest scored just seven goals last season, the fourth fewest in the division, which is why Ward-Prowse – who created more chances from dead balls than anyone else in the Premier League in 2023/24 (43) – could be such an astute signing.

Chris Wood, who has scored 13 goals in 20 Premier League games since Nuno’s arrival, will certainly benefit from Ward-Prowse’s deliveries.

It might even be the difference between a mid-table finish and a place in the top ten, which is a genuine possibility now for a club that has made significant improvements to training ground facilities over the summer, including a new gym and new medical facilities.

Perhaps those changes (or at least, the psychological boost of a summer of renewal) are behind Forest’s best start to a Premier League season since 1994/95.

More likely, it is simply the right manager overseeing a squad built, by accident or design, to suit tactical ideas that are proving effective in the 2024/25 Premier League season precisely because they are no longer in vogue.

Forest are one of the few teams left who play reactive counter-attacking football. They are a shining example that it can be entertaining - and that it can work.

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