Nottingham Forest entered the international break after a mixed start to the Premier League season.
The opening game featured an impressive win against Brentford, but Nuno Espirito Santo’s side was unable to follow that up.
A draw away to Crystal Palace and a heavy defeat at home against West Ham would ultimately send Forest into the international break in bad spirits with just four points from a possible nine.
There are certainly a lot of things that need to be worked on, and if Nuno wants to ensure that Forest become European regulars, he must address them fast.
Here are three things that Nuno Espirito Santo must do over the international break.
Fix relationship with Evangelos Marinakis
Nuno and Evangelos Marinakis having a fractured relationship was unexpected, but it was a saga that threatened to overshadow the beginning of the season.
After a successful season last campaign, the idea that Nuno Espirito Santo was suddenly on the chopping block at Forest was hard to believe.
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The breakdown in the relationship reportedly came from Espirito Santo’s misgivings with Edu Gaspar, and it would ultimately put Marinakis in the middle of a feud.
Nuno Espirito Santo and Evangelos Marinakis talking on the pitch
Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images
However, at the Europa League draw, Marinakis said he will meet with Nuno, and the manager also confirmed talks would take place over the international break.
It is paramount to Nottingham Forest’s season that the two are able to build bridges once more, and that an olive branch gets extended.
Build more trust in Nottingham Forest’s new signings
There are a lot of new names at the City Ground this season, and so far the Portuguese manager does not seem to really trust them.
So far, only Dan Ndoye has started out of the summer signings, and against West Ham the manager made just two subs before the 89th minute.
Perhaps it is just a case of that most of the fresh additions not having much of a pre-season under the manager.
However, the exclusion of Omari Hutchinson in the Europa League squad has left fans confused.
But if this is the reason, then this international break presents the perfect chance to rectify that problem.
Only Ndoye and Oleksandr Zinchenko will be away out of the new signings meaning that Nuno will be able to work a lot more closely with the summer arrivals.
Become defensively strong again
Last season Nottingham Forest were one of the best defensive sides in the Premier League.
Matz Sels ended the season sharing the golden glove with David Raya, highlighting how resolute they were at the back.
However, the clean sheets have dried up, and that is something Nuno will have to work on over the coming weeks. The last time Forest prevented a team from scoring was back in April against Manchester United.
The Tricky Trees’ biggest strength last year was that teams found it hard to break them down and score. Now, the club have gone 11 straight Premier League matches without keeping a clean sheet.
Unfortunately for the manager, four of his five backline regulars are away on international duty, so working with them personally won’t be possible.
However, he could still work on a tactical plan that makes the defence a lot tighter, and if Forest can maintain clean sheets regularly again, results will follow.