Nottingham Forest Squad

I'm always intrigued by clubs that buy lots of players. Lots of attention has been leveraged towards Chelsea, for obvious reasons, and some have mentioned Forest here and there, but I'm going to go in depth with what I think about the squad that Steve Cooper will have to pick from.

The Squad

Attack: Gibbs-White, Awoniyi, Origi, Elanga, Hudson-Odoi, Dennis, Wood

CM's: Yates, Mangala, Dominguez, Danilo, Kouyate, Santos, Sangare

Wing backs: Aina, Aurier, Montiel, Williams, Toffolo, Tavares

CB's: Biancone, Boly, Felipe, Omobamidele, Murillo, McKenna, Niakhate, Worrall

Keeper: Turner, Vlachodimos, Hennessey, Horvath

Young: Tavares (loan), Gibbs-White, Biancone, Hudson-Odoi, Williams, Danilo, Elanga, Omobamidele, Murillo, Aguilera, Santos (loan)

"Prime": Aurier, Vlachodimos, Turner, Origi, Horvath*, Toffolo, Niakhate, Aina, McKenna, Montiel, Worrall, Awoniyi, Dennis, Yates, Sangare, Mangala, Dominguez

Older: Hennessey, Felipe, Kouyate, Arter*, Boly, Wood, Shelvey*

Those were rough groupings. Writers and analysts will have their own definitions of each category, but I thought most of the "prime" guys had been around a while, not of Forest obviously but in the footballing landscape. On a similar note, a player like CHO is at a different point is career than even MGW, given injury history and place in the team. I will also mention that in a team like Forest, probably slightly above the teams that'll go down, but still not in a position to mess around, loan players are not there based on "potential" but for what they can do this season. Unless Andrey Santos drastically stands out at this level in training and whatever appearances he gets in games, he'll be on the bench or not even in the squad for most of his time at the club.

As I said in the intro, I am incredibly interested in squad dynamics and how coaches deal with trying to keep all these players happy. I think it's impossible, to be blunt, seeing as the Forest squad is literally the size of one that would be playing in Europe. Next I want to go through who I think will get lots of minutes.

Gibbs-White and Awoniyi: When they're fit, they start. In games the team will struggle, they are a pair, and in more even games they're flanked by one more; say Elanga or Hudson-Odoi.

Turner or Vlachodimos: Hennessey and Horvath aren't trusted, so it's up to these two who takes the gloves. It could be a rotation, one could start the cup games, or maybe injury will rule one (or both) out for a prolonged period. That's the worst case, clearly.

This is subject to change, but two midfielders have started every game; Danilo and Yates. I can see Dominguez getting minutes, as well as Sangare, especially in games where Cooper needs more muscle or legs in midfield. Again, I'm not the coach and don't know his rationale each match in terms of 2, 3 or 4 CM's, but from a tactical perspective it's really cool.

Over to the wing backs, Aurier has started every game, with Aina getting 3 stars and Williams 2. I'm curious how Montiel and Tavares will be utilized, given that the former will likely deputize for Aurier and the latter is left footed.

In central defense, there are so many guys lol. Boly, McKenna, and Worrall have started every game so far. I'm honestly not sure why they signed Felipe, as he was good for maybe 1/4 of the two seasons he was at Atleti. I rated Niakhate at Mainz, but he's barely played for Forest. The young lads, Murillo and Omobamidele, probably won't play much, and I could see one or both being loaned in January so they can get game time.

As a slight update, I wrote this on Monday the 11th and it's now Tuesday the 12th. Despite the English window having closed a while ago now, the Greek and Turkish ones have not, which means two Forest players will be allowed to seek refuge. The "casualties" in this case are Biancone and Dennis. Two relatively young players, neither has proven to the manager he can make a meaningful impact. Up front the club's brought in two wingers, and with MGW starting, only one will likely play. Plus, Origi is more effective than Dennis, hence why he was brought in. Likewise, I mentioned the surplus of central defenders and wing backs, so it's not like Biancone will be missed.

The next run of games looks promising, or it could easily turn into a nightmare. Aside from Man City, all of Burnley, Brentford, Palace and Luton are all winnable. 3 of those are at home as well. What would be interesting will be to see how Cooper sets up. Against City, in theory more than in practice, it makes sense to put a bunch of athletes in there to disrupt their buildup and try to hit them on the break. I think Awoniyi has to start every game, but that's just me. Despite the score line showing a one goal loss in both, the Arsenal away performance was abject while the Man United away one was mighty impressive. The difference was having a focal point in attack. It's a really small sample size, but the game against Luton will feature the two teams with the lowest possession numbers in the league. I would expect Forest to have to take control, given Luton would take a draw away from home at this point and hope to win the reverse fixture. Thus, you'd want at least one ball playing guy in each third. I'm looking at Kouyate or Felipe in at CB, or maybe one of the young guys, and at least one of Sangare, Dominguez, Santos in midfield to dictate the game. I could be completely wrong and Luton will end up with 60% possession in a 3-0 Forest win. Brentford, Burnley, and Palace are all in the high 40s for possession, so they'll be "favored" in that sense, especially Palace since that fixture is at Selhurst.

I'll quickly mention the two new wingers, Elanga and Hudson-Odoi. Forest did what many non-elite clubs do by signing "rejects" from the rich clubs. They are both direct forwards who, if given a chance, will be devastating on the break for Forest. I think Hudson-Odoi is more talented, which is not a bold statement, but post injury I have no idea how his body will hold up. Thus, I think Elanga will have a quicker impact on the side, and maybe a better career overall.

Outlook

At the end of the day, clubs are judged based on whether they're making progress, remaining consistent, or slipping. Forest spent a lot of money upon promotion, and have chosen to take the same approach this summer as well. Granted, comparatively the squad is more gelled than last season. I appreciate that there isn't too much rotation, but it's not like the set up will be the exact same for every match. As I said in the previous paragraph, I would expect/hope that Cooper will look to actually play a bit of football against one or two of the lesser teams, especially Luton. I get going for solidity away from home, and obviously against the big teams Forest will play their usual style. But to have players who are comfortable on the ball and not adjust to take control of the ball against bad teams is honestly negligent, even if it might work on the night. That's the type of thing that'll keep you at a certain level for a while, but eventually teams will recognize your gimmick and seek to destroy any loopholes you've tried to exploit. If Kompany was smart, he'd swallow his pride in the upcoming game and park the bus, forcing Forest to break his side down. That's what you have to do to win games at this level. Steve Cooper knows that, and if other teams don't adjust, Forest will keep winning games ugly and be safe in midtable while the others struggle.