Nottingham Forest’s 3-1 victory over Newcastle on Boxing Day was a masterful display of the art of counter-attacking directed by Nuno Espirito Santo.
In his second match in charge since returning to the Premier League, the former Tottenham Hotspur coach faced a difficult challenge in Newcastle. But then, with his talent and experience here, he helped Nottingham have an excellent performance.
Nuno chose a 4-2-3-1 formation for the team, with Anthony Elanga and Callum Hudson-Odoi playing on the flanks, joining number 10 Morgan Gibbs-White to form a supporting trio for striker Chris Wood – a One of the best players this week. They took the risk of leaving some players up front, but immediately tore apart the home defense if they got the ball.
After the match, the Portuguese coach shared: “Our plan is to counterattack. We knew that if we neutralized the pressure coming from Newcastle, we would have the opportunity to transition and endanger them with quick passes.”
Quick counterattack
As of before the match at St. James’ Park, Nottingham Forest only had 12 quick counter-attacks, but in 90 minutes against Newcastle, they did this 5 times. From those situations, they earned 3 shots and the first 2 goals in Wood’s impressive hat-trick.
Throughout the match, Nuno Espirito Santo’s attacking quartet always played with a ready position for situations to rush forward, especially the link between Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi and Elanga. They worked well together and moved smartly to constantly put Wood in favorable positions.
The situation below is typical of Nottingham’s way of playing. Ibrahim Sangare made an excellent interception on the edge of the penalty area, then he escaped the pressure of the Newcastle players and made a good pass for Elanga to rush forward and assist Wood to score.
Encourage players to make breakthroughs with the ball
Nuno made the absolutely correct choice in this match, when he used a duo of talented and young wingers, Elanga and Hudson-Odoi. Both of these players have speed and technique, they always want to move forward with the ball.
In addition, fullback Ola Aina, midfielder Murillo and Gibbs-White were all encouraged by their teachers to hold the ball when given the opportunity. Each of them completed 3 successful dribbles in this match. That contributed to Nottingham Forest’s victory.
Use long passes behind the defense
Not only creating danger from quick counter-attacks, Nuno also directed his players to actively seek opportunities from accurate long passes behind Newcastle’s defense to take advantage of Newcastle’s excellent running ability. Wood.
The 32-year-old New Zealand striker demonstrated his ability to move to catch the ball in Nottingham’s 2-3 loss to Bournemouth as shown below.
In the match against Newcastle, this veteran also showed similar qualities in the third goal. As shown in the picture below, Wood cleverly escaped to catch a very good long pass from midfielder Murillo and finished the opponent.
In round 20 this weekend, Nottingham will return to their home stadium City Ground to welcome guests Manchester United. If Erik ten Hag’s students are not well prepared, Nuno can continue to use his annoying kicking style to win 3 points.