Report shares the two key words Nuno always repeats to his Nottingham Forest players

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Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo prides himself upon creating a tight-knit squad just as professional on the training pitch as they are on the Premier League stage.

And as Nottingham Forest travel to Chelsea on Sunday afternoon having suffered only one defeat in their first six top-flight matches of 2024/25, it’s fair to say all those hours of work Nuno, his coaching staff and his players are putting in behind the scenes is paying off pretty handsomely.

In stark contrast to the previous eras – where Nottingham Forest’s training ground looked as packed as the London underground in rush hour – Nuno Espirito Santo made it his mission to trim the fat from a bloated roster and instil a smaller, more competitive, tight-knit squad in it’s place.

The Iberian reportedly believes that 21 is the perfect number of players.

And having moved on a whole host of fringe players over the summer – Odysseas Vlachodimos, Joe Worrall, Remo Freuler, Scott McKenna and Matt Turner among those to depart – Nuno certainly got his wish.

Nuno Espirito Santo repeats two words to his Nottingham Forest squad

The Telegraph reports that Nuno’s faith in a smaller squad comes from the idea that it gives every member of the roster the belief that they can earn a place in the matchday squad.

There are not quite so many moping around the training ground these days, wondering why they bother to put in the hard yards on the training pitch when they are going to be left out when the weekend arrives.

A smaller squad, as Nuno explained multiple times during his spell in the Wolves dugout too, creates a feeling of both togetherness and competitiveness behind the scenes.

“That’s obvious,” Nuno said in December when asked if he would like to work with a more concise group of players at the City Ground. “We are trying to give every player a chance to improve, that’s our responsibility, because I truly believe individually they can improve.”

“We started with a small squad, now we have an even smaller squad,” the manager also told the Wolves website back in 2019, when he had just 16 first-team outfield players at his disposal.

"It's our philosophy. It's a belief that the squad being short [means] everybody is involved, has competition, and the relationship between them increases the more hours they spend together. The complicity, knowing small details that can help."

The Telegraph add that Nuno – who is keen to create a bond between the players and the staff and make everyone feel as if they are on the same page – uses two key words again and again both in meetings and during training sessions.

‘Interconnection’ and ‘interdependence’.

In short, the team comes first. Nottingham Forest might have a smattering of genuinely top-class players but nothing can be achieved without everyone pulling together in the right direction.

Nuno explains what Forest must do to stop Cole Palmer’s Chelsea

That was a point he was keen to reiterate during Friday’s press conference.

When it was put to him that Matz Sels had faced the fewest shots of any regular Premier League goalkeeper this term, Nuno said the whole Nottingham Forest team should take credit for a fine defensive record.

"It's always important [to stop the other team creating chances], no matter which opponent," Nuno said, Sels likely to be in for a busier evening against Cole Palmer’s Chelsea this weekend.

"You have to understand which traits they have and how to stop them. The team has been solid in this aspect.

"It's the team's work. [It is] not only about the defensive line and midfield. It starts from the pressure in front, covering the spaces.

"It will require a lot of hard work from our players [to stop Chelsea]. It is always about the team, the spaces [we can prevent], the organisation.

"There is definitely a lot of talent in Chelsea's squad. We have to be really, really ready. That is what we [prepared for in training] today and what we are going to do tomorrow."