While many were eager to tune into Nottingham Forest’s new-look side, with former Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou taking charge of his first game at the Emirates last Saturday afternoon, the reality was, it was still Nuno Espírito Santo’s side, with Ange in the dugout. Nevertheless, Sports Talk United will analyse the tactical set up of both the Forest and Arsenal sides and also discuss what will Postecoglou learn for his inevitable change of system and principles for Forest’s EFL cup game to Swansea this Wednesday.
Forest got handed a sobering 3-0 defeat to the high flying Gunners, despite Mikel Arteta without key players William Saliba and Bukayo Saka, as well as resting Declan Rice.
Many were expecting a ‘classic Ange’ high line, stylistically the opposite of Nuno’s setup, which had brought Forest plenty of success last season, finishing 7th in the Premier League. This wasn’t the case and maybe it was naïve for people to expect, considering Postecoglou admitted to only having one training session with his squad in preparation for Saturday’s game. It will be a free pass for the new Forest boss in the eyes of many, and going to the Emirates as your opening game, with one training session, is far from the easiest start you could wish for, especially considering how strong Arsenal are.
Arsenal’s ace additions
Arsenal’s front three of new summer additions showed their quality by creating fluid movements constantly and showing directness and fearlessness in their runs.
Noni Madueke epitomised all of this. Carrying on from his electric international break with England, the winger struck fear into the eyes — and legs — of both Morato and Nico Williams. Naturally a centre-back, Morato was pushed into left-back duty with Ola Aina injured and Oleksandr Zinchenko ineligible to face his parent club. Arsenal clearly identified this weakness and it worked a treat, with Morato constantly being caught in no man’s land and Madueke flying past him in what felt like every attack. After 13 minutes, over 50% of Arsenal’s attacks came down Madueke’s flank.
More stats indicate how Arsenal targeted this as Madueke had the most involvement in attacking sequences throughout the match with seven, and was second in progressive carries.
It was often key man Murillo who came to Morato’s, and Forest’s, rescue in the box, making four interceptions and five clearances – most of them crucial – before going off injured in the 37th minute. This saw a shift in the backline, with Morato moving to his more comfortable centre back role. Substitute and debutante Nicolo Savona coming into right back and Neco Williams, switching to left back, who also struggled against Madueke.
Gyokeres’ chance in the 59th minute is a perfect example of the fluidity and running movements of Arsenal’s front three, which caused chaos for Forest’s defence. It started with Eze picking it up in his own half on the left hand side, where it fell to Gyokeres on the left, who darts towards the centre of the pitch, laying it to Madueke. Gyokeres then proceeds to overlap all the way to the right of the box which led to his shot firing at the near post.
This fluidity from Arsenal’s front three, and the movement from their new centre forward, should be exciting for Gunners fans and it also shows the potential rise of ‘relationism’ in tactical set ups from the elite teams.
Something that is well documented by now but impossible to ignore is how strong Arsenal are in offensive set pieces. Ultimately, two of their three goals on Saturday afternoon came from set pieces. Although last season Arsenal scored the most goals from set pieces (14), interestingly, Forest recorded a higher percentage of goals from corners at 6.3% compared to 5.6% for Arsenal.
Nevertheless, Arsenal possess real danger from their set pieces, particularly at corners. They have a lot to thank for to set piece coach Nicolas Jover, who has the Gunners set up excellently for a long time now. Gabriel has quickly emerged as the most threatening player in an opponents box from corners over the last twelve months, and showed yet again on Saturday how much of an asset he is offensively, especially for a defender. Almost every time a ball is whipped in from a set piece it’s aimed toward Gabriel, who gives the opposition a horrible time, and even if he doesn’t connect to it, it often bounces for second or third balls which cause further threat.
Forest’s limited attacking threat
Whilst it is too harsh to judge Postecoglou tactically in his opening game, there were some obvious weaknesses that made the Forest too easy and opponent for Arsenal. It sounds simple but they just weren’t causing any threat. After 74 minutes, Forest only had 0.07 xg recorded. Of course, part of this has got to do with the quality of opposition they were playing. However, they never really got the ball to the right areas when they did have the opportunities.
A huge outlet for Forest is Chris Wood. Whilst they were trying to use make chances for him, he had 0 touches 18 minutes into the game. Winger Dan Ndoye, who overall had a disappointing game, was not involved anywhere near enough, recording only 10 touches in the first half. His touches improved to 32 in the second half, but Forest will need to utilise their wingers more in possession to stretch teams and really hurt opposition high lines on transition, something they were very successful doing under Nuno.
Whilst it seemed that at times they were trying to push their defensive line higher up, for the most part they were forced into a low to mid block, largely due to Arsenal’s dominant ball progression.
Postecoglou’s likely assessment
It’s clear that it was a game to look at and not a game to judge for the new Forest boss. The squad has some serious talent in attacking areas such as Ndoye , Wood, and Morgan Gibbs-White. These players can, and have, devastated teams in the past, but Postecoglou will need to find a way to get them involved more often through his pressing system.
When asked about how long it will take for his team to reflect how he wants them to play, he responded assertively… “It won’t be months, it won’t be weeks, it will be Wednesday.”
This will likely mean more intensity, more pressing, and look something like the below both in and out of possession.
Whilst the line up may differ, due to the upcoming game being an EFL Cup match, it’s possible Postecoglou will give Douglas Luiz, who has yet to feature for Forest this season, a start. Ibrahim Sangare, who played on Saturday, might be too immobile for his manager’s style and Luiz tends to fit more in Postecoglou setups.
Forest take on struggling championship side Swansea City away tonight, in which Ange will certainly be judged.
