Nottingham Forest will begin anew after the international break, after Ange Postecoglou succeeded Nuno Espirito Santo.
Forest announced Postecoglou as head coach on Tuesday, following owner Evangelos Marinakis’ decision to relieve Espirito Santo of his duties on Monday, as their working relationship had deteriorated.
TBR Football understands Forest made the decision due to growing interest in Postecoglou’s services, and the former Tottenham boss was at the top of the shortlist at the City Ground.
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Espirito Santo enjoyed an incredible campaign last season as his Forest side emerged as the Premier League’s surprise package, the ex-boss secured a return to European football and reached the FA Cup semi-finals.
Nevertheless, Postecoglou will now inherit the reins, and his former Celtic colleague Anton McElhone has revealed what he believes will be Postecoglou’s biggest challenge at Forest.
Ange Postecoglou looks on during Tottenham Hotspur v Brighton and Hove Albion
Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
Ange Postecoglou must find the right personnel at Nottingham Forest
When speaking on the Football Daily podcast, McElhone, who was head of sport science during Postecoglou’s stint in Scotland, has revealed the Australian may struggle to get the best out of the current squad.
“Yeah, I think if you look at the system that Forest use, that 4-2-3-1, he’s played similar at Tottenham and Celtic. I think that will be an easy transition. Obviously, the biggest challenge will be the personnel that he has at the club.
“I think obviously the defence and the midfield and the attacking line won’t be the small tactical tweaks that he makes, but again he has obviously shown that he can make these tweaks, whether he’s at Celtic or all these different clubs.
“So I think it will be something he will find that he can do quite easily, but again it will be a big challenge because he’s not had a transfer window to bring in the players that he wants, and he’s going to have to adapt more. It’ll be an interesting thing because obviously, the Premier League now knows what Ange Ball is all about.
“So it’ll be really interesting to see what sort of version they get at Forest, so it’ll be really exciting to actually see if he can continue to play that high press and high energy football with some tweaks because obviously you’re going from one extreme to the other with obviously the Forest team which is a low block but they’re very fast and direct it’ll be really interesting to see how he goes from that extreme to Ange Ball.”
Postecoglou made worrying comments about the Forest squad last season, sharing that the current crop of players is suited to Espirito Santo’s style of football.
One of the driving reasons behind the managerial change at Nottingham Forest is that Marinakis wants Forest to play attacking football despite Espirito Santo’s success last term with a more counter-attacking approach – this is, of course, more suited to Postecoglou’s strengths.
However, the timing of the decision is a cause of concern for Forest. TBR Football understands that Marinakis has long considered Postecoglou to be the new boss, but now he will be forced to work with the players already at the club, as the summer transfer window is now closed.
Ange Postecoglou must hit the ground running at Nottingham Forest
Forest began the campaign with an impressive 3-1 win against Brentford, but have since failed to win their two subsequent fixtures, culminating in a humiliating 3-0 loss against West Ham.
Postecoglou will be under immense pressure to succeed at the City Ground, as Espirito Santo brought joy back to the Forest supporters last year, and they will be expecting similar success this time around.
The Australian will begin his tenure with a difficult trip to Arsenal on Saturday, a side he failed to beat in his four meetings when managing their North London rivals.
However, Postecoglou claimed the Europa League during his final season at Tottenham, and his success on the European stage will undoubtedly have Forest fans excited at their prospects of competing in this year’s competition.