What Nuno did on the touchline as Nottingham Forest transfer need clear after Bournemouth humbling
Bad days happen. Poor performances happen. Even capitulations and chastening defeats can happen to the very best.
Perspective is certainly required after Nottingham Forest's 5-0 humbling at the hands of Bournemouth. The Reds remain third in the Premier League table and this was only their fifth league defeat of the season, coming on the back of a stunning nine-match unbeaten run in all competitions. There is no need for alarm bells.
But that doesn't mean Nuno Espirito Santo will simply brush this one off. Far from it. His team have set themselves high standards, and they fell well below them at the Vitality Stadium.
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What will be bothering the Portuguese is that Forest had already failed to heed one wake-up call before they ran into a dangerous Cherries side brimming with confidence. As he said himself after the full-time whistle, how Saturday unfolded on the south coast was a “warning”. Below, we look at some of the big talking points from the match.
‘7-0’ scoreline
This was very un-Forest like. Completely out of character for a team built on solid foundations and with defensive diligence at its heart. The goals were poor ones to concede, with Bournemouth afforded far too much space time and time again, and the way the visitors folded in the second half was painful to watch. Nuno described it as a “nightmare”.
The Reds head coach made the point afterwards, though, that this wasn’t just about Saturday on its own. He referred back to the second half against Southampton, when the Reds were left hanging on at the City Ground. Seven goals shipped without reply in 135 minutes is a worry for him.
Anthony Elanga aside, nobody in the visiting side played well against the Cherries. But defensively, in particular, they were far below their usual levels. Normally reliable performers such as Murillo, Nikola Milenkovic, Matz Sels and Ola Aina were not at the races.
For Nuno, it reaffirmed why the Reds must stick to the principles which have served them so well this season. Get back to being Forest, was the message afterwards.
"Don't change the way we play because days like this can happen again, and we don't want that,” he said in one of his post-match interviews. "We are not like this. We have to be much better. We go back to the City Ground and we expect much better.”
A different test
The Reds have got used to going ahead in games - scoring first and shutting up shop. As Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola explained afterwards, the key for the hosts was to avoid playing into their opponents’ hands and instead start quickly themselves.
When Justin Kluivert put his team ahead with nine minutes on the clock, it presented Forest with a different test. Initially, the reaction was decent enough and they created a few promising opportunities. But the visitors then lost their way.
Nuno was asked afterwards whether this was a lesson in seeing how his players respond when they fall behind. He replied: “Yeah, and the response was bad.”
The Reds have been excellent at what they do this season. They play to their strengths and have been doing it very, very well.
“It is realising how we do things; how we’ve been playing football until today,” Nuno explained. “It is clear our strengths - we are a team that needs to be close to each other, compact and don’t allow space for our opponents to drive and make their actions. The moment that we lose that aspect of the game, it becomes much harder for us.”
Forest don’t need to come away from what they are good at and they have already shown they can find different ways to win. But as they look to keep improving, how to handle proceedings when an opponent flips their own game-plan around is one area to be worked on.
Window shopping required
Tied into the above is having the strength in depth to mix it up tactically. The Reds have a good squad and Nuno has been clear he is happy with it, but does he have the personnel to completely change things when required?
The carrot of European football is a big one. Forest will not want to let this opportunity pass, so it is going to be interesting to see how the final week of the transfer window unfolds.
They do not suddenly need to rip up their plans or descend into knee-jerk panic-buying. There is still no need for a big overhaul, and finding the right kind of character to fit into a tight-knit dressing room must be central to any business.
Even before the calendar turned to 2025, it was obvious the Reds were in need of a striker in the January transfer window. Nothing has changed on that front. But it wouldn’t come as a surprise if more than one attacking player is targeted. A striker and a winger, or at least a versatile forward, perhaps.
With Callum Hudson-Odoi ruled out due to injury, Jota Silva was handed his first start since early December on Saturday. But the summer signing didn’t really have the kind of impact he would have hoped for - not that he was alone in having a tough afternoon.
Nuno talked about how the team was “unbalanced”, though, and there is no doubt Hudson-Odoi was a big miss. Do Forest have sufficient attacking options in general to come off the bench and change games? That is surely the question being asked internally.
Bouncing back
The Reds’ unbeaten run was always going to come to an end at some point. Given Bournemouth are a bogey side who are now unbeaten in the last 10 league matches against Forest, many had predicted a testing afternoon.
But few would have expected that kind of defeat. Nuno himself was left stunned by what happened. “I think it surprised everybody,” he admitted.
On his 51st birthday, he was left seething on the touchline and went through the emotional wringer. He bit his lip and chewed his finger. At times, he looked furious, with steam practically coming out of his ears.
As a one-off, a game like Saturday won’t define the Reds’ season. They have been absolutely phenomenal this term and are still on course to have a special campaign.
But how they respond to being pulled apart by Bournemouth is important. It is all about how they bounce back - especially as they have a tricky run coming up.
After Brighton and Hove Albion at the City Ground next weekend, the next four league games are against the teams Forest lost to in the first half of the campaign - Fulham, Newcastle United, Arsenal and Manchester City. At the end of that sequence perhaps we might have a sense of where Nuno’s men will find themselves in the reckoning. Going into it with lessons learned from the Vitality Stadium will be key.
