Pereira's First Game

In just a couple of training sessions Vitor Pereira gave Forest's players the freedom to express themselves on the field, let's look at some of the patterns both on and off the ball.

Forest’s performance on Thursday night was encouraging right from the kick off. Compare the first minute in Istanbul to the first minute at home against Wolves last week and it genuinely feels like two different teams.

In both games, Forest opt for a very common tactic from kick-offs, going back to the keeper and asking him to hit a long ball to the forward. The intention here is to at worst gain a second ball high up.

The biggest difference though? The numbers in the forward line. Forest lose first contact on both occasions, but on Thursday night you can see immediately Forest push men forward and have at one point 6 men on the forward line.

Compare that to Dyche’s final game against Wolves, and Forest at most have 3 there, often just 2. Eventually as the first minute ends against Wolves, Aina goes for a low percentage channel ball that he doesn’t get right.

In Istanbul, Pereira gave Forest’s players the freedom to go forward, trust their own abilities and play the opposition, rather than stick to a rigid plan. This worked wonders throughout the game as we’ll see in these clips.