Nottingham Forest {Premier League)
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Not sure if this thread will get much reaction but I wanted to bring this team to light here. I was at a family dinner this past Thanksgiving with my wife's family. Her 2 brothers began talking about the Premier League and the teams they rooted for. I was a big soccer fan in my younger years living a mile from the Ft Lauderdale Strikers (NASL) stadium. So, I said ok let me check in on this league and pick a random team to follow and learn about how the league works etc. I chose Nottingham Forest for no other reason than I thought it was a cool name. Come to find out this is a very storied franchise that's been around since 1865. Their recent history over the past 25 years was not so hot. They were relegated out of the Premier League for 22 years to a lesser league and got promoted back up to Premier League 3 seasons ago and were skirting the lower standings facing relegation back again. This season has turned magic for them. New manager, new attitude, and a very cohesive team who are now in 3rd place against all odds! If this league was more mainstream in the USA this would be a huge sports story here. I watch every one of their games now and look forward to what they will do from week to week!
Go Tricky Trees!
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assuming Forest is on the up and up this season (they were hit with a 6 point deduction last season for breaching FFP rules) and subsequently had to sell off (arguably their then best player) Brennan Johnson because of it), it's one of the more impressive coaching and roster building jobs since perhaps Leicester in 2016, although Bournmouth is right there with them this year too.
I would liken this Forest team to the Florida Panthers minus the fact that Forest don't have two of the top 20 forwards in the league like the Panthers do. But a similar - all players do their role, they play a classic counter attack style, strong defending without a risky high press etc. Then they go out and steal Edu away from Arsenal. So as long as he doesn't ignore the importance of having a dedicated striker like he did at Arsenal, things look pretty good. Don't know if they can hang on to the top 4, but even if it's 5th or 6th place, that's quite a turnaround.
A real life Ted Lasso.
should also add, this isn't that unusual for Nuno. He didn't work with Tottenham but he wasn't a good fit there with a bunch of players who couldn't defend, but before that he was excellent with the Wolves on one of the lowest payroll teams, he took them to 7th place finishes in back to back years in 2019 & 20. Then as these smaller clubs do, they sell off their best players because that's what makes them the most money. Selling off players you sign/develop through your system.
Forest are 12th in payroll in the EPL at £62,580,000. Compared to Man City at £205,660,000.
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Don
Great insight. Thanks. So, I have figured out that January is the period of "free agency" so to speak where offers can be extended to players on expiring contracts? Example for Forest was Murillo who Chelsea really wanted and sent a nice offer but Marinakis said I don't think so and signed him long term through 2029. Also, could you explain the loan process? It seems this is if you have a very young or a fringe player that won't get much playing time you loan them to another team where they get that playing time/experience? Is there a set period on loans? When can you get such player back?
the transfer (signing) periods are the summer off-season and in January. You can extend your own players at any point. There are also essentially handshake agreements for expiring contract players to sign with a different club in the forthcoming off-season. Example, right now, there are many who believe (Liverpool's) Trent Alexander-Arnold is already in agreement with Real Madrid. Maybe, maybe not. There is a tampering or they call it "tapping" rule, but it's rarely, if ever, enforced. People in the US/Canada would lose their ish if the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL contracts worked like soccer although the NBA is sometimes similar with star players orchestrating their way out of town.
As for loans, I would say the majority of cases of loan agreements are teams who want their young players who are ready, or near ready, to be starters but do not have a spot for them. Example - Arsenal's star midfielder, Martin Ødegaard, was with Real Madrid. They didn't have a spot for him, so they loaned him to (Spanish league's) Real Sociedad. It didn't work out there, then he was eventually loaned out again to Arsenal during the start of their rebuild. It was a loan with an option to buy, which obviously Arsenal eventually did. Sometimes it's just a straight loan (like Brigton's Evan Ferguson just moved to West Ham), sometimes it's a loan with an option to buy the player. Sort of like a test drive period.
It's also a way for a team to get rid of an aging player who is either a problem in the dressing room, or is in decline. Recent example, (Man U's) Marcus Rashford being dumped off on Aston Villa. No one could, or would take Rashford's entire contract, so Villa is paying 2/3 of his salary, and Man U a third of the salary to make him go away. But yes, you can also recall a player you loaned out too. Teams don't like to do it, but if a rash of injuries occurs, sometimes it's needed. Recent example - Chelsea recalled defender Trevoh Chalobah from his loan at Crystal Palace about two weeks ago.
Thanks again for that. Very informative. The whole process is very different than the sports here use and a bit difficult to get a handle on at first. Do you follow any particular teams there? I also am trying to figure out how it would work for Forest if they finish in the top 4. Do they continue playing on like a playoff? Thanks in advance. I understand the 1st place team automatically wins the Premier League but after that I'm a bit lost on it.
The first year when I sort of got into it, I just started randomly watching EPL games with no particular rooting interest. My nephew was playing soccer in school and is a Liverpool fan, and at this same point, I largely stopped watching/following tennis since there was nothing new or genuine about Djoker and Nadal. The following year I became an Arsenal fan for no other reason than one of my friends also is, and when I started following the league Arsenal were just starting their rebuild. So it was easy to get in on the ground floor with all the player turnover...and it was a near complete turnover of everyone including manager. The first match I watched as a fan of the one team was Mesut Özil's last game. He was one of the star players of the previous Arsenal era and was both lazy, gassed, and in rapid decline.
Finishing in the top 4 is key. The top 4 finishers are automatic buys in the Champions League (sort of like a March Madness of European soccer), except, it goes on all season long during league breaks, and there aren't really seeds, it's group stages, you play each team home and away until you advance to the semis and then the championship game, aggregate on points so if you lose 1-0 in the first leg but then win 2-0 on the second leg, you advance. Champions League is compiled of the top 4 finishers in the English, Spanish, Italian, French and German leagues, Those are the Big 5 leagues. Then there are sort of "at large" bids from the top finishing teams from the other but smaller European leagues in Portugal, Netherlands, Scotland etc. The importance here is obvious - more revenue, more exposure so it's easier to recruit better players etc. If you get CBS Sports Network or you have a Paramount Plus subscription, you can watch Champions League there. But games are on at 3pm EST on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at various intervals during the season. There's a one hour wrap up/highlights show at 5pm EST on those game days.
After Champions League, there is also the Europa League which would be the equivalent of the NIT. The 5th to 8th place finishers go there. Not as much revenue, and really no one outside of Europe cares about it unless your team happens to be playing.
My 10 year old follows Premier League and told me over the past weekend that NF jumped up to 3rd. He also said something interesting that I wasn't aware of. He also was saying that there might be 5 spots in the CL this year. I watched a little of the game a few days ago with him and I love their setup. It's old school English soccer with a counterattacking offensive scheme throwing Wood at the goal. They defend deep and drop into a 424 defense and defend the midfield crossing passes. They give away a lot of bad shots baiting teams who get through the attack line by playing that deep defense. The attack line, even when breached, stays at that midfield position and when the back defenders win the ball they have 4 great outlets to flip the field and counter-attack. Then they flip into a 4321 with Wood, who I saw for the first time in that game..., breaking down the defense like a magician. They just couldn't win in the midfield against Fulham and dropped into a 442. That Adama cross was perfection. It was borderline but I want my keeper punching that ball out. Wood's goal though was my favorite moment in that game.
A bend but don't break defense installed by Nuno.
@bgr
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This Sunday 9am @ Newcastle then Wednesday home vs Arsenal 2:30pm are both going to be tough matches and may determine Nottingham's top 4 aspiration viability. Expecting close hard-fought matches in both.