The ‘Forest power’

The wounds have not yet healed. Nottinghamwhen two years ago the emblematic City landon the banks of the River Trent, lived the matches of forest with great anguish, after the very real danger of a new relegation to the Championship, after a painful point penalty that sank the morale of the ‘trick trees’. Perhaps because of the sadness that their fans have felt for so long, Forest’s current successes, continuous and unexpected, are celebrated with a peculiar joy, although few saw the arrival of new eras of prosperity, the ones currently experienced by Nottingham Forest , third in the Premier League.

The arrival of the new coach, the Portuguese Nuno Holy Spirit, This does not explain everything in the ‘metamorphosis’ the club has gone through. There was a radical change in the behavior of its owner, the inexplicable Greek magnate Evangelos Marinakisand its leadership team, a radical change in transfer policy, aimed at avoiding falling, once again, to the ordeal experienced two seasons ago. That disproportionate and disorderly spending – a total of 30 hires in his first year back in the Premier League – came to put the forest as a model of waste and mismanagement. The change has now allowed for a planned policy, where each new player who arrives is thoroughly evaluated, looking at the real needs of the team. He forest has learned to compete with the demanding English Premier.

There is a lot of fun on Trentside, such as is not remembered in recent times in the capital of the United Kingdom’s EastWidlands, and the ‘Forest power’, created by Marinakis and Espirito Santo, is being enjoyed today. The Greek businessman, who also owns the Greek Olympiakos, is finally achieving his goal with his investment in the Premier League. Along the way, he fought the entire English establishment, and he faced the arbitration team. He was recently banned for five matches for spitting at a referee, who he was waiting for in the locker room area after a loss to Fulham. It is a singular president and owner.

Internal planning

Perhaps the first signings in the new phase of foreststarted last year, relatively unnoticed, but they felt the club’s turn. I started trying to do things properly and looking for immediate performance. Examples are those with two incisor tips Callum Hudson-Odoi and Anthony Elangatrained in the quarries of Chelsea and Manchester United, with two defenders to change the line, the Brazilian central defender Murilloand the Nigerian side Ola Aina. With Nuno Espirito Santo’s experience in the English league, last summer a competitive team was strengthened and configured. Serbian central defender Milenkovic arrived, and the attackers Ramón Sosa and Jota Silvawith the loans of promising young Englishman Elliot Anderson (trained at Newcastle) and Barcelona native Alex Moreno (Aston Villa) to strengthen the left back. A dependent group of players for whom results come.

With ongoing concerns over the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR), well-planned signings are now a secret of forest. And it has been proven that with his vertical and fast counterattacking game, thanks to his new attackers, who understand each other and coordinate perfectly with the scorer Chris Wood, he was able to surprise almost everyone. They have won at Anfield (0-1), at Old Trafford (2-3), at Tottenham at the City Ground (1-0) and also at Aston Villa (2-1). His last five consecutive wins endorse all the good work of Nuno, explaining his reasons and methods: “Now we have the possibility to sign better players, but the most important thing is to evaluate their understanding of the game and tactical ability, and know where you want them to go. “They have to fit into our culture.”

Scouting networks and ‘Big data’

As an example of a new good function, is the signing of Nikola MilenkovicThe Serbian international made a difference in defense, due to his excellent understanding of the Brazilian Murillo. Signed for more than 10 million pounds from Fiorentina, Milenkovic was chosen by Forest because of the need to stop the loss of goals (22) from set pieces that Nottingham suffered last season. The Serbian centre-back is on their list as he has won the most aerial duels in the Italian Serie A. Forest’s three key figures in transfer matters are director of football Ross Wilson, global technical director George Syrianos and the head of transfers Pedro Ferreira. Wilson has been instrumental in the strong structure over the past 18 months. The Syrianos have earned a reputation across Europe for using ‘Big Data’ and statistical analysis to great effect, while Ferreira is well connected after 17 years at Benfica. It’s a modern approach, updating Forest’s structure and adapting to new times to compete in the Premier League with a vision for the future.

At their modernized Wilford Lane training facility, just over a mile from the City landForest designed the entire growth plan that works for them. That the path was right was confirmed by the results, some extraordinary, such as the club’s first victory at Anfield since 1969. Nuno Holy Spirit He has a saying to keep the competitive spirit in the team and avoid any compromise: “Let’s get back on the wheel.” This is how Nuno describes the daily obligations and demands of his tactical work, which is the basis of the current success of forest.