'Complete change': Nuno accused of making decision which actually made Forest worse vs Brighton
Yesterday at 01:00 PM
Nuno Espirito Santo is starting to slowly but surely win around his critics as the head coach of Nottingham Forest.
The Portuguese boss faced an impossible task when it came to replacing Steve Cooper as the new Forest boss in December.
Given what Cooper achieved at the football club it was always going to be tricky for Espirito Santo but he’s taken everything in his stride.
There has been talk that Forest considered sacking Espirito Santo on two occasions last season but now Evangelos Marinakis must be glad he didn’t wield the axe.
Yesterday required some more meticulous planning by the Forest head coach and after trailing at the break he was forced to make three half-time substitutions.
Stephen Warnock cites Nuno decision that made Forest worse
Despite a reasonable performance in the first half against Brighton, Espirito Santo opted to make three changes to the team for the second half.
Neco Williams, Jota Silva and Ryan Yates all came on with James Ward-Prowse, Alex Moreno and Anthony Elanga making way.
Warnock felt that stifled Forest and had some issues with the decision made by Espirito Santo.
He told BBC Sport: “Complete change in midfield for Nottingham Forest from looking so organised in midfield.
“There has been a little change with Gibbs-White going alongside Sosa to make a three – it has lost the dynamic of being able to break forward.”
Espirito Santo still striving for different methods
Squad depth is now the best it has been since the club returned to the Premier League in 2022 and that goes without saying.
Last weekend, it was Elanga and Callum Hudson-Odoi linking up from the bench and this week it was Ramon Sosa and Silva making the same impact.
Espirito Santo is paid the big bucks to make these decisions – but Warnock does have a point about yesterday.
Although Ward-Prowse wasn’t overly involved in the game, Forest did seem to lose something when his work rate out of possession wasn’t evident in the middle.
Yates reverted a little bit deeper and that seemed to hand the initiative to Brighton.
Still, there are lots of positives, although Forest will now need to find an alternative to Morgan Gibbs-White after his sending-off yesterday.
Espirito Santo has done a lot of things right yesterday and it will now be intriguing to see what happens this season under his tutelage.
