The Ange Postecoglou era is well underway at Nottingham Forest, with his first training session making an impact on one Reds star in particular.
In his first interview with the club, Postecoglou discussed tweaking his tactics at Forest, with winning games and trophies his only priority at the club.
Forest fans were impressed with Postecoglou’s first words, having previously been unsure about the appointment after losing Nuno Espírito Santo.
Alongside his interview, the new head coach has also taken training for the first time, with his new methods leaving one star impressed with his work.
Callum Hudson-Odoi dribbling with the ball at the CIty Groun during pre-season friendly against Al Qadsiah
Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images
Callum Hudson-Odoi hails Ange Postecoglou’s training session
Naturally, training will have been slightly impacted by the fact that Forest’s international players are yet to return from their duties, meaning that Postecoglou has worked with only some of his new squad so far.
One of those at the Forest training ground has been Callum Hudson-Odoi, who has spoken to talkSPORT about his first experience with the new boss.
He said: “Yeah, that was a session! I can’t even lie to you. For us, it’s building that relationship with him early and getting ideas of what he wants to bring into the team.
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“When the manager comes in, you have to make sure that you get that quickly because games happen fast and there’s one coming on Saturday [away against Arsenal].
“So for us, it’s just making sure we’re ready, we’re prepared and make sure that everyone just knows what he wants us to do, and hopefully apply it in the game.”
At Tottenham, Postecoglou came under fire for the role of his training sessions in the North London side’s injuries, which will be something the Reds will want to avoid. However, according to Spurs star Pedro Porro, this stigma against Postecoglou isn’t a fair one.
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Under Espírito Santo, Forest had a tremendous record with injuries last season, with Ola Aina’s issues in April the only major absentee that created a problem.
Postecoglou’s more intense style of play may lead to more fatigue for the Reds to contend with, but Porro made it clear back in January that his training sessions were not the cause for any injuries.
Speaking to Football London, he said: “We have a plan for all of our training. Those players who aren’t playing so much have their own plan to come back and me too, I train at the club but I also do my own work outside the club, recovery work, prevention of injury.
“Everyone has their own schedule, if the training sessions are less intense it’s for those players coming back, they have the training they need, and also for the players who are playing, we need a lot of recovery.”
The season is set to be a busy one for Forest with the Europa League campaign to contend with, so Postecoglou’s sessions will have to take the extra workload into account.