Why Are Nottingham Forest Soo Good?

Prior to Forest v Liverpool, a game that ended with Forest holding on for a point against the league’s leaders. A good friend of mine (Ben) who enjoys football but is by no means an avid watcher posed an extremely valid question. This is how the text conversation played out:

Ben: How are Forest second???

Ben: Like what

Me: Hahahah mad init

Ben: Tell me why

This is a common theme in our friendship, Ben enjoying the ideologies and reasoning behind football but not holding a strong enough interest to ‘study’ or watch himself.

This is where I tend to come in so here was my reply 12 mins later at 22:49

Me: So… A combination of things really, I guess. Isn’t it always.

Their owner has big pockets (he also owns Olympiacos) and the long-term goal is to compete at the top end of the table, Europe etc…. They’ve always invested a lot of money since they got back in the Prem but it’s been chaotic.

High player turnover, excessively big squad, similar to Chelsea. But towards the end of last season, they whittled it down and got a new manager in and found some consistency. Basically, built on less rotation to the team & being a hard team to beat essentially. Strong at the back with big powerful Centre halves (one being Murillo who is also tekky) then dynamic fullbacks who can get up and down. Your standard principles done well.

This has then developed this year. Lots of things coming to fruition at the same time. Football is in some ways reverting to favouring teams that are big, strong & physical. Chris wood their striker is the most stereotypical old school number 9 there is. Hit the big man, but the big man can play. He’s been icy, scoring everything that comes his way. Surround this with tekky midfielders who create chances and have a bit of that flair n you’re cooking. Morgan Gibbs-White, baller. Hudson-Odoi not quite the explosive man he has been due to injuries but baller, got that flair n will skin a man (ex chelsea so high pedigree player. Then Elanga (ex-United so high pedigree player) is explosive, so fast.

Then you sort of churn all that together and it’s the basis for a good team. Strong at the back, creative players who also graft, n a bagsman. Pair this with healthy competition due to decent squad depth and a manager who knows the league and has got them aligned and playing. Then a lot of the teams around aren’t exactly flourishing themselves. Once you pick up wins and points against ‘big teams’ then that confidence is flowing, everyone’s vibing, the squad mentality & cohesion is thriving and before you know it, you’re a hard mofo to beat!

The likelihood is they’ll drop off at some point because that’s just the nature of the beast but, a top 4 or top 6 finish would be a hugely successful season, they probably would’ve been content with top half back in August.

A drop off isn’t inevitable however, we all know about Leicester City…

Ben: Mate, I love you, you're the best! 😂

Ben: Maybe you should write some blogs for TFB

This is a very surface level response to the question, related personally to the man posing the question. I could’ve gone on to say how Elliot Andersen is a brilliant ball carrier, with the talent and technique to play a variety of positions.

Or how they use their press to seize teams who lack consistency when building from the back. Or how they’re well suited to transition football, with direct passes & running power cutting through their opposition. We haven’t even dipped our toe in where Chris Wood is concerned, merely stating that he is in fact ‘a bagsman’, failing to mention he has the highest conversion rate in the league with 30.8% outperforming his xG by 46.5% (statmuse).

So now, thanks to Ben, we have a blog! Whether you’re a football data enthusiast or just enjoy dipping your toe then this blog is for you.