Thomas Frank exposes major Nuno Espirito Santo weakness that Nottingham Forest must solve

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Nottingham Forest have suffered back-to-back home defeats in the Premier League with the loss to Brentford on Thursday, but a wider problem was exposed by Bees boss Thomas Frank.

Brentford could’ve possibly had a red card in the 2-0 defeat, but, on the balance of chances created, Nuno Espirito Santo’s side can have no complaints about the result at the City Ground.

Chris Wood didn’t manage a shot on target and when he came on, Forest fans slammed Taiwo Awoniyi’s performance in a display that did his chances of earning a starting spot no favours.

It was a whole-team issue in truth, though, as the Forest squad couldn’t respond to Brentford’s goals, which was perhaps due to a tactical decision that thwarted Espirito Santo.

Thomas Frank allowed Nottingham Forest to control possession

Counterattacking has been the key strength of Espirito Santo’s Reds this season, and when it works, other Premier League sides cannot react, as seen when Anthony Elanga scored against Manchester United after a lung-busting run.

Negate that strength, though, and it seems as if the Forest manager cannot react, judging by how Frank’s Brentford set up in their victory.

Time and again this season, the story of Forest matches has been that Espirito Santo’s side give up the ball but then dominate in areas such as expected goals, but this trend was flipped against Brentford.

Forest were also tasked with completing more passes than Brentford, which allowed The Bees to be more aggressive and win duels in a fashion we’re used to seeing the Reds manage.

Frank hailed Espirito Santo for his work at Forest in the buildup to Thursday night, but he clearly spotted a hole in the Portuguese manager’s system and exploited it, something Espirito Santo referenced in his post-match comments.

Nuno Espirito Santo on indifferent Nottingham Forest display

The Forest coaching staff will hopefully be able to negate the possibility of such a weakness being exploited again, but to Espirito Santo’s credit, he picked up on how Brentford’s style impacted his side’s usually brilliant defence.

He said: “I’m not happy. I’m concerned and upset because, credit to Brentford for the way they played, but they didn’t do too much to achieve two goals.

“[…] It’s our pillar. Our basic fundamental is how we defend, how we are compact, how we don’t concede, how we don’t even allow our opponents in. Today was the other way round.”

In particular, Nikola Milenkovic and Murillo struggled against Brentford, which hasn’t happened often this season, so perhaps Forest won’t see the same issues against Crystal Palace on Monday.

However, Brentford set out a blueprint on Thursday that other teams could look to follow, something Espirito Santo must be prepared for.