David Moyes heaps praise on Nottingham Forest for one specific area, ‘surprised me…’

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David Moyes has done an excellent job in his second stint as Everton manager.

Having returned to Goodison Park in January with the club one point above the relegation zone in 16^th, the 61-year-old has guided the Toffees to Premier League safety.

Now 15 points above Ipswich in 18^th with just seven games to play, Everton are all but guaranteed to be playing top flight football next season.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
12	BrentfordBrentford	31	12	6	13	51	47	4	42
13	Man UtdManchester United	31	10	8	13	37	41	-4	38
14	TottenhamTottenham	31	11	4	16	58	45	13	37
15	EvertonEverton	31	7	14	10	33	38	-5	35
16	West HamWest Ham	31	9	8	14	35	52	-17	35
17	WolvesWolves	31	9	5	17	43	59	-16	32
18	IpswichIpswich	31	4	8	19	31	65	-34	20

With that relative comfort in mind, Moyes was keen to praise Nottingham Forest for their record-breaking season when turning his attention to Saturday’s game at the City Ground.

David Moyes credits Nottingham Forest for their style of play

Speaking in his press conference on Friday, Moyes was asked by a reporter if Nottingham Forest had surprised him with their style of play this season.

In response, the Everton manager waxed lyrical about Nuno Espirito Santo’s tactical approach.

Moyes said: “They’ve surprised me from where their position was last year. I have to say Nuno’s done an incredible job. Football has to be played in many different ways and if we’re only going to play football in one way then I think it’ll be boring.”

The former West Ham and Manchester United manager continued: “So I think it’s great that we have different types [of play] and we see different teams playing different ways.”

Moyes finished: “I think Nottingham Forest have had an incredible season and great credit to them.”

Nottingham Forest have had the lowest amount of possession in the Premier League this season

Incredibly, as reported by the Independent, Nottingham Forest currently sit third in the Premier League table despite having had the least amount of possession on average across the whole campaign.

It shows that the old adage of possession being nine-tenths of the game does not necessarily apply.

Indeed, Espirito Santo’s approach of being solid defensively and fast and direct when in possession of the ball has paid dividends this term.

Such a style has played to the strengths of the players he has at his disposal, with Anthony Elanga’s goal against Manchester United a case in point.

With the Premier League’s top five qualifying for the Champions League, Forest are sure to return to Europe’s elite competition for the first time since 1980 if they maintain their form across the final stretch of the campaign.