It’s hard to pick out a player who wasn’t brilliant for Nottingham Forest against Brentford, but alongside Elliot Anderson and Morgan Gibbs-White, one Red deserves a special mention.
Forest were incredible against Brentford as Nuno Espírito Santo’s side made the perfect start to the Premier League season, with the entire squad chipping in.
On social media, Forest fans raved about Anderson for his incredible assist for Chris Wood’s second of the game, while new signing Dan Ndoye also got off the mark with a clever header into the top left corner.
Away from the scoresheet, though, one member of the starting XI deserves credit for what may have been one of his strongest performances at the City Ground.
Callum Hudson-Odoi waves to the fans after Nottingham Forest beat Brentford.
Photo by Ed Sykes/Sportsphoto/Allstar Via Getty Images
Callum Hudson-Odoi was unbelievable against Brentford
With Ndoye and Wood on the scoresheet and Gibbs-White running the show in behind, it’s easy to look past Callum Hudson-Odoi on the left, but the Englishman was absolutely brilliant against Brentford.
Statistic Callum Hudson-Odoi vs Brentford
Distance covered 9.4km
Touches 52
Chances created 2
Crosses 5
Dribbles attempted 4
Hudson-Odoi’s performance was an example of the importance of intent from a wide player. Immediately, he was driving at the Brentford defence but with the intention to create for his teammates, shown by his five attempted crosses in the game.
While they didn’t all come off, it’s absolutely crucial for Espírito Santo’s side to impose themselves at the City Ground, something Hudson-Odoi helped with through his dribbling, which led to two good chances created for his teammates.
This unselfishness could be crucial to the former Chelsea man’s game this season. With Ndoye looking comfortable when he drifts inside, Hudson-Odoi’s creativity may mean he doesn’t get on the scoresheet very often, but his importance to the buildup will benefit Forest’s other attacking talents.
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With this in mind, one of Forest’s newest recruits may find displacing Hudson-Odoi in the starting line-up a difficult task.
Omari Hutchinson will struggle to displace Callum Hudson-Odoi
An abundance of options will give Nuno the clichéd ‘selection headache’, with the left wing position a particularly difficult one to manage now.
Forest signed Omari Hutchinson on the back of a Euro-winning campaign with the England U21s, where Lee Carsley deployed the former Ipswich man on the left in a system nearly identical to Forest’s.
With Hudson-Odoi playing like he did on Sunday, though, Forest’s new record signing will have to bide his time to earn opportunities.
To complicate matters even further, Hudson-Odoi is one of the more experienced members of the squad in terms of UEFA competition, too, likely giving him the edge on Thursday night’s as Forest navigate Europe for the first time in 30 years.
Espírito Santo will surely have a plan in mind for Hutchinson, but Hudson-Odoi and the rest of Sunday’s attacking set-up have made a statement amid the excitement of new signings.