‘Quality’ 25-year-old is Nottingham Forest’s Player of the Season so far – opinion

Add as preferred source on Google

As 2023 draws to a close, it’s time to reflect on an intriguing year at Nottingham Forest and so far this season, Orel Mangala has been the star man.

The Belgian midfielder checked in at Forest in 2022 from Stuttgart. He cost the club around £12 million and he looks exceptional value for money; kicking his game to a different level this season.

It’s been a tricky start to the campaign for Forest during 2023/24. The club are embroiled in a relegation battle and perhaps Evangelos Marinakis would have hoped for more.

Mangala was recently praised by Lewis McGugan for his efforts in the Forest midfield. He called him ‘quality’ and those comments give strength to our claim that the Beglain is our Player of the Season so far.

Mangala is Forest star man so far this season

Forest haven’t really had a player that’s banged the goals in so far during the current campaign. Taiwo Awoniyi has four goals and Chris Wood currently sits on three.

Had Awoniyi stayed clear of injuries, he might have been getting the nod from ourselves. However, we’ve had to go with Mangala as the man that has made Forest tick.

The 25-year-old suffered from a bit of an identity crisis last season. Some Forest supporters claimed that they didn’t really know what sort of midfielder Mangala was and that was a fair acquisition.

Now, however, he’s taken his game to another level. Mangala has been in majestic form all season and right now, he has to be considered as one of the first names on the team sheet.

Mangala stars despite Premier League struggles

Who Scored showcases some of the statistics that make Mangala so effective at Forest. For starters, he’s played for 1361 minutes and only Morgan Gibbs-White has been on the pitch for longer.

Defensively, he’s been sound too. He’s made 23 tackles across the campaign, whilst with 22 interceptions he has the most of any player in the current Forest squad.

In possession of the ball, Mangala has made the most accurate short passes of any Forest player. He’s proving extremely useful in that sense and long may his current form continue.

The brilliant thing about Mangala is that he’s only 25-years-old. He has bags of time on his side to keep improving and he’s been head and shoulders over his Forest peers this season.