A lot can change in football in 12 months and for Nottingham Forest, it’s fair to say that more has changed than at most clubs.
Since winning promotion to the Premier League, Forest have been striving for consistency when it comes to a settled team.
With that in mind, appointing Nuno Espirito Santo might have proved a masterstroke.
In all of the Forest head coach’s other jobs, he’s preferred working with smaller squads and that has helped the club streamline.
Forest have made a great start to the 2024/25 campaign and currently occupy fifth place in the Premier League table.
However, the last 12 months have been a slog at times and the team led by Steve Cooper prior to the international break in November 12 months ago looked somewhat different.
Forest were beaten 3-2 by West Ham at the London Stadium
Nottingham Forest XI from November 2023 vs West Ham
GK – Odysseas Vlachodimos
The less said about Vlachodimos at Forest the better, even if he did actually make several quality saves during this game.
Comfortably his best performance in a Forest shirt.
RB – Ola Aina
Still holding down a place at right-back to this day, Aina remains a very important part of the squad under Espirito Santo.
CB – Moussa Niakhate
Cooper opted to play Niakhate on the right-hand side of two central defenders here and it just didn’t work.
The Senegal international never really looked comfortably playing on that side and the fact he was left-footed just made him look unnatural.
CB – Murillo
Was a mainstay in the team after his debut against Brentford in October 2023 and he was also very impressive in this match.
Murillo is now thought to be worth around £70 million and Evangelos Marinakis did very well not to sell him during the summer transfer window.
LB – Harry Toffolo
Toffolo was often deployed under Cooper but since Espirito Santo came in he’s been nothing other than a backup option.
On certain occasions this season, he’s not always made the matchday squad but he does look like a good influence on the younger players in the dressing room.
CM – Ibrahim Sangare
Last season, Sangare struggled but his pass to Morgan Gibbs-White in the build-up to Forest’s first goal was a touch of brilliance.
Sangare is currently nursing a long-term injury which is a shame considering he’d started the current campaign in pretty solid form under Espirito Santo.
CM – Nicolas Dominguez
The Argentine was hooked at half-time in this one having been guilty of a misplaced pass early doors that led to Lucas Paqueta opening the scoring.
His form of late this season suggests that he’s really kicked on under the new head coach.
CM – Orel Mangala
It was a bit of a surprise when Forest boss Espirito Santo sanctioned an exit for Mangala and he was allowed to join Lyon on loan in January.
The Ligue 1 outfit made the move permanent in the summer and he’s now on loan with Everton trying to prove himself as a Premier League player once again.
RW – Morgan Gibbs-White
One critique of Cooper’s manager was his knack for square pegs in round holes.
This was an example of that and Gibbs-White was never as impactful on games from the right flank and thankfully, it’s not something Espirito Santo has ever really done.
ST – Taiwo Awoniyi
The Nigerian was considered the first-choice striker under Cooper and he scored at the London Stadium.
These days, Awoniyi is forced to play backup to Chris Wood and he’s still striving for match sharpness.
LW – Anthony Elanga
The Sweden international put Forest in front during this game but the lead lasted just two minutes, with West Ham equalising shortly after.
James Ward-Prowse – now of Forest – was a menace on set-pieces that day and it meant that Elanga’s goal proved in vain.
Nottingham Forest XI from defeat to West Ham 12 months ago:
Substitutes
Divock Origi
The less said about the Belgian the better during his time at Forest. Hapless and often hopeless!
Chris Wood
The striker was hardly ever used from the start under Cooper and that now looks like a detriment to the former boss.
Serge Aurier
The Ivorian was a nice player during his time at Forest and he was surprisingly sold to Galatasaray in January.
Willy Boly
Boly is still at the club right now but with Morato and Nikola Milenkovic signed in the summer, his chances of game time are now restricted.
Danilo
Came on for Dominguez in this one and seemed to be fancied by Espirito Santo when he first came to the club.
Broke his ankle on the opening day of the campaign and is now awaiting the green light to resume training.
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