The days go by and Nottingham Forest, far from falling, is on the rise. They won at Anfield (0-1) and once again stopped ‘Liderpool’ (1-1) at the City Ground. A tie that leaves Nuno Espírito Santo’s men second, six points behind Liverpool. With one more game, yes.
The great moment that the ‘tricky trees’ are experiencing – they have 41 points after 21 games – has unleashed comparisons with Forest themselves, who won a League (1977-78) and two European Cups (1978-79 and 1979-80) with Brian Clough on the bench, but, above all, with Leicester that broke the bets – they paid 5,000 to 1 – to win the Premier League 2015-16.
Parallelisms, there are. The ‘Foxes’ were saved ‘in extremis’ in 2014-15 with Nigel Pearson – the season before winning the League – and the Nottingham team did the same with Nuno last season. There is more. Forest has only two points less (41-43) than the team led by Claudio Ranieri, which, after 21 rounds, was also second.
The typical eleven of the champion Leicester vs. that of the current Forest.Footmob
“Something similar happens with Forest and Leicester. Nobody expects you to maintain that drive and they don’t take you seriously,” says Wes Morgan. The captain of champion Leicester, curiously, now works for Forest – he already played at the City Ground – as a ‘talent scout’. Another link. “Going unnoticed is great for players. You don’t have that pressure and you perform better,” he adds.
Something similar happens with Forest and Leicester. Nobody expects you to maintain that drive and they don’t take you seriously
Wes Morgan
Stylistically they also have something in common: the commitment to being vertical and giving up the ball without any qualms. Forest is, in fact, the team with the lowest percentage of possession in the Premier: 38.98%.
“They have a similar style. That Leicester looked to counterattack with Vardy. It’s quite similar to what Forest is doing this season,” Jamie Carragher acknowledged to ‘Match of the Day’ a few days ago.
That Leicester looked to counterattack with Vardy. It is quite similar to what Forest is doing this season
Jamie Carragher
The speed of Elanga and Hudson-Odoi and the ability of Gibbs-White to ‘throw’ Chris Wood – he already has 13 goals – is key in this sense. However, Carragher highlights another aspect in which Forest surpasses that Leicester.
“Defensively they are much better. Leicester, on the other hand, were superior in attack,” remarks the former Liverpool centre-back. You are right. Mats Sels has kept a clean sheet nine times – more than any other goalkeeper – so far this season. Kasper Schmeichel – he later improved significantly – had barely accumulated six games without conceding a goal at this point.
“Classification doesn’t matter”
However, Nuno Espírito Santo does not even want to hear about fighting for the Premier. “I don’t know, maybe at the end of the season I’ll take a look at the standings. We’re trying to build something nice together. We should enjoy the trip, nothing more. The standings don’t matter,” says the former Valencia coach.
We are trying to build something beautiful together. We should enjoy the trip, nothing more
Nuno Espírito Santo
One thing’s for sure: Robin Hood would be proud of them. In the forests of Nottingham they continue to ‘steal’ from the rich to give to the ‘poor’.
