Garry Birtles won’t agree, but Vitor Pereira might have surpassed Sean Dyche at Nottingham Forest after one magnificent 3-0 win over Fenerbahce in the Europa League.
Forest were clinical in the 3-0 demolition with goals from Murillo, Igor Jesus and Morgan Gibbs-White, handing Pereira a huge advantage to take into next week’s second leg at the City Ground.
Who was your Nottingham Forest Man of the Match vs Fenerbahce
In fairness to Dyche, he won his first Europa League game too – a 2-0 win at home to Porto – but this one was different, with Fenerbahce unbeaten in 22 games in all competitions and typically formidable on home soil.
The improvements from the Dyche era were significant, and it all started around 40 minutes before kick-off when the Forest players were spotted doing something intriguing during their warm-up.
Nottingham Forest skipper Morgan Gibbs-White
Photo by Serhat Cagdas/Anadolu via Getty Images
Vitor Pereira set-piece warm-up was refreshing for Nottingham Forest
Normally, players go through the motions a little bit with their warm-up, but this was as intense as it’s been at Forest for a little while.
The Forest players were spotted as a unit going through defensive set-piece situations, and to say how much Dyche prides himself on that, it was bizarre how much the team struggled under his management.
Dyche was all about the ‘nuts and bolts’ and doing the ‘hard yards’, with focus lost on actually coaching the players who made up the best squad he’s ever managed.
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Pereira quite clearly knows that Forest are fragile when it comes to defending dead-ball situations and is leaving no stone unturned when it comes to coaching this team to Premier League safety and progress in Europe.
Tactical scouting allowed Pereira to thrive in Forest bow
This warm-up stuff is only a small thing, but it’s clearly something that the players are buying into, with Fenerbahce looking pretty dreadful from set pieces against Forest.
Furthermore, the performance and the planning showed that Pereira had done his homework on Fenerbahce – the club he used to manage.
😍What a win for Nottingham Forest vs Fenerbahce. Give us your three-word verdict to that performance!
Viva La Vitor!!!!
The Reds looked switched on from the get-go in Istanbul, and frankly, Forest could have scored more than the three they managed against former Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson.
The shackles quite clearly come off, and although Forest have tough fixtures coming up on the horizon, it now gives the Reds some confidence that things can get moving in the right direction.
Pereira spoke about the we and the us rather than the me and the I after this win, and it appears clear that, as well as giving the players some confidence, he’s going to bring some proper coaching that Dyche neglected during his time at the club.
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