Forest Take A 1-0 Lead to Villa Park
Vitor Pereira was forced to change personnel, but stuck with the same system that had seen Forest score 9 goals in the previous 2 games. But he showed again he's not afraid to change things mid-game.
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On a memorable night at The City Ground, Forest just about edged the first leg of the Europa League semi-final, and will go to Aston Villa on Thursday night knowing a draw will see them return to Istanbul on 20th May.
The performance and system were both very different to what we saw when these two teams faced each other only a few weeks ago on 12th April - where Aston Villa were perhaps unfortunate to only come away with a point.
On that day, Villa’s wide players in Rogers & McGinn were able to get into good positions to receive the ball between the lines and in the channels between full backs and centre backs. But a combination of a tactical tweak by Pereira, and an enforced personnel change by Unai Emery, meant Forest dealt with this a lot better this time around.
Ross Barkley started as a conventional No. 10 in the Premier League game, but Villa have similar Home Grown issues to the ones Forest have, meaning he’s an unfortunate one who isn’t in the European squad. This forced Emery to change a front 4 that worked so well earlier in April.
Morgan Rogers moved into a role similar to the one Igor Jesus has played recently, where he switches between going behind Watkins, and sometimes along side him. This meant Emi Buendia came in on the left.
Pereira’s tactical tweaks forced Villa’s widest players even more narrow, with John McGinn in particular forced infield and around 10 yards further back for his average pass reception.
Straight from the kick off, we see Forest’s back 4 show an intent to stay much closer to Villa’s front 4. Morato is the first who jumps out of the line to try and prevent McGinn receiving a pass, before retreating and switching responsibility with Neco Williams. Forest’s defenders sniff out Villa’s first attack well - a great sign that they’d found a way to halt progress that Villa found to easy to come by earlier in April.
They immediately then look to use a move we’ve seen a lot recently, where Hutchinson will drop deep and look to swing a ball into the the forwards, where they can then try and get in behind. Igor Jesus tries an ambitious ball when he should probably have used Hutchinson’s overlap, but this was a very promising first 60 seconds.
Pereira Preaching Patience
At all of his previous teams, Vitor Pereira has always tried to get his players to be patient on the ball - this can sometimes be a little frustrating as a fan, but the intent is to try and move defenders around and create space that the more talented & technical players can take advantage of.
In this near 2 minute spell of clean possession, Forest are composed and keep trying to probe Villa from side to side. By tempting Villa players over to one side, if Forest can switch the ball quickly then they can make use of the space. In this example, that pass isn’t quite executed properly - but isn’t it refreshing to see a clear plan in action, where the end result isn’t just a lumped ball forward to a single isolated striker?
Pereira always wants at least 4 players on the forward line, ideally 5, all stretching the defence across the width of the pitch. In this new system with Igor Jesus playing closer to Wood, with two natural strikers up front Forest are able to create space in wide areas much easier.
Forest manipulate Villa’s first & second line from side to side, before Morato tries to slide in Williams in a huge gap between a tucked in Matty Cash and a John McGinn who has to follow Elliot Anderson back along the flank. The move doesn’t come off, but the intent is clear and the plan is so close to working.
In this second clip, we see Forest be patient again before they suddenly up the tempo when they’re able to play a pass through Villa’s line. Gibbs-White drops deep from the forward line, Dominguez sneaks behind Watkins, and Wood makes a quick move in front of the centre back. These quick passes represent a increase in the tempo that Villa can’t deal with.
A common theme in these moves is that the mere presence of Igor Jesus is occupying defenders to such an extent that full-backs have to tuck in to support their centre back. Hutchinson is in lots of space because Digne can’t afford to leave a big gap, Wood plays him in before the young winger wins a corner.
A Slightly New Tweak To Close Out The First Leg
Forest fans will now be used to Pereira changing things within the game - Thursday night was no different in that he made tweaks as we got closer to 90 minutes - but the changes themselves were a little different.
Firstly, with injury forcing Ola Aina off, Zach Abbott was introduced as a right back with around 15 minutes to go. Within a few minutes, Pereira then switched Forest from their back 4, moving instead to a back 5 with Omari Hutchinson then filling in at RWB. This was a brave move, but a move that the winger’s out of possession discipline in recent games gave Pereira faith that it could work.
Forest moved to a 5-2-3, with Gibbs-White & Igor Jesus very narrow, either side of Chris Wood. They didn’t just sit back though, they’d still press high to try and disrupt Villa. More importantly, when the turnover wasn’t possible, they’d then drop back into the shape.
Villa at this point had Rogers & Sancho in wide areas, whilst Forest restricted access to the middle of the field. What we see toward the end of the clip though is a bit of evidence that Pereira’s work - although very good - isn’t done.
Wood firstly calls Igor Jesus to be in the right position, before he then starts a press that Anderson isn’t ready for. Finally play through Forest’s line after over a minute of being forced to go sideways and backwards.
What’s great to see here though, Forest had a clear plan that as soon as Villa made it deep into the Forest half, the 5-2-3 immediately became a 5-4-1, with Igor Jesus moving to a right midfield role ahead of Omari Hutchinson.
The fact that Pereira has been able to embed these different systems in the squad in such a short space of time, and with very little time on the training ground, shows not only how talented a coach he is, but also how much the Forest squad have bought into his methods.
It does make me wonder about what the squad could be capable of with a full pre-season with Pereira under their belts - similar to what we saw last season when Nuno and his coaching staff put in some great work in the early stages of pre-season in Spain.
Despite His Incredible Talent - There’s Still Room For Anderson To Improve
Thursday night was another fine performance from Elliot Anderson, who seems to just add another £1m to his price tag every game. But there are still some areas in his game that need improving - particular when he hasn’t got the ball.
Villa’s best chance of the game came in the second half - it was a little fortunate in how it came about in that a Morgan Rogers shot was deflected into the path of Ollie Watkins - but the striker definitely should have done much better with his finish. But how did we get to that point?
Anderson’s biggest weakness for me is when he’s got players running in behind him - there’s two reasons for this. Firstly, we have to remember this is only his 2nd full season of being a 1st team regular, he’s still very inexperienced compared to most midfielders he’s coming up against. Secondly, his time at Newcastle was spent either in wide areas, or playing in a midfield 3 - not only does he still lack experience, he lacks it in a midfield 2 as well.
In this example, Anderson watches, and more importantly then follows, the pass from Villa’s midfielder. As he follows the ball, 2 Villa players move into the box - this creates a huge problem for Milenkovic. He chooses to follow the run, but then gets unfortunate with the deflection that falls into Watkins.
I’ve got no doubt Anderson will improve in this regard - and to be fair to him he’s already improved in this area even during this season. But it is something that can and has caused Forest problems, especially against midfielders who are willing to crash the box.