A few days shy of his two-year anniversary as head coach, the City Ground saw signs of what Steve Cooper wants this latest incarnation of his Nottingham Forest side to look like.
There was never any doubt about his talent. The key was teasing it out of him and getting him back up to top level - after all, Monday night was the first time he had started a game at senior level since February. The Argentine endured an evening to forget. He never really settled and was given a torrid time of it by Luka Kolesho, who went on to set up the opener. It came as little surprise when he was hooked early in the second half, with Nuno Tavares adding a bit more balance to the side when he came on.The latter was the Reds’ marquee signing of the summer. Once he gets going, he has the potential to really stamp his influence on games, but it was a shaky first outing for the midfielder.
With the attacking threat in Forest’s squad, the challenge was going to be finding a way to best accommodate the talent at Cooper’s disposal. Plumping for a 4-2-3-1 system allowed him to include Hudson-Odoi, Morgan Gibbs-White and Anthony Elanga in support of striker Taiwo Awoniyi, with Orel Mangala and Sangare shielding the defence.
Looking ahead It is early days, but already this season Forest have shown the strides they have made. They are a completely different prospect from this time 12 months ago and even from the side they became by the end of the 2022/23 campaign.