Nottingham Forest’s pre-season has finally reached its climax with a friendly against Saudi Pro League side Al Qadasiya, but Morgan Gibbs-White was surprisingly absent from the squad.
On the pitch, pre-season hasn’t produced the most ideal results for Forest, as Nuno Espírito Santo experiments with new tactical ideas that have made some of the performances disjointed.
There were more positives in the most recent friendly, though, as Dan Ndoye impressed against Fiorentina in a game that finished goalless but did feature some brighter attacking play.
Naturally, Gibbs-White was involved in the positive play at the City Ground, but the Reds talisman was surprisingly absent from the squad for the final friendly before the Premier League season.
Morgan Gibbs-White during Nottingham Forest vs AS Monaco
Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images
Morgan Gibbs-White’s pre-season friendly absence explained
Gibbs-White’s future was one of the big storylines during the off-season, after Tottenham reportedly matched Gibbs-White’s release clause.
However, the Reds got the last laugh as Gibbs-White signed a new contract, committing his future to the club in a move that was of great relief to Evangelos Marinakis.
It was surprising to see that he was not involved in the Al Qadasiya match, but Forest TV commentator Matt Davies-Adams confirmed that the midfield maestro missed the clash due to a “personal matter.”
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A relief on one hand to hear that he hadn’t sustained an injury, but all Forest fans will be sending their best wishes to their midfield star.
Without Gibbs-White, Forest started the match on Saturday evening with both Igor Jesus and Chris Wood in the starting line-up, giving Reds fans another look at how the strike pair may link up.
Nottingham Forest now have the flexibility of two strikers
After a slow end to the 24/25 campaign, the Forest squad had concerns about their style of play, with the concern that teams may have figured out how to cope with the counter-attacking style.
Therefore, Igor Jesus’ arrival from Botafogo was a welcome one as it allowed Espírito Santo the option of having two focal points up front, but the Brazilian’s flexibility actually gives the Reds even more options.
Against Al Qadasiya, it was clear to see that Jesus was behind Wood in the Gibbs-White role, collecting the ball from midfield as the Englishman does while also providing closer support for his fellow striker.
Nuno’s attacking experiments look set to continue as the season begins, with plenty of flexibility through the addition of Jesus in particular.