During Eddie Howe’s tenure as Newcastle United head coach, Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool had been the only visiting teams to leave St James’ Park with three points.
By inspiring Nottingham Forest to add their name to that list in his first away game as their head coach, Nuno Espirito Santo has got his tenure up and running nicely, in challenging circumstances.
Forest’s previous visit to Tyneside had also represented the start of a new era, as Steve Cooper’s side played their first game back in the Premier League at the start of last season following promotion. Fans travelled to the north east that August 2022 weekend with a sense of curiosity, without any certainty over what the team might look like, amid a summer of significant change at the City Ground.
It says a great deal that few Forest fans would have been able to predict Nuno’s starting XI on Boxing Day (Tuesday) either. A little more than 16 months separated the two fixtures, but the fact only one player from the Cooper starting XI — Moussa Niakhate — was also in the team named by Nuno also tells a significant story and underlines the challenge the Portuguese faces.
It is, in many ways, the same one that Cooper dealt with for much of his tenure.
Following 41 signings across three transfer windows, including 13 in the most recent one, Nuno arrives needing to find calm amid the chaos. Even in the final weeks of his reign, there was a sense that Cooper did not know what his best XI was, as another fresh crop of players worked to find their feet following summer transfers.
In different circumstances, the same is probably true of Nuno, as he pondered his second team selection, barely a week into the job.
He won’t yet know what his best team is, as he works to assess the strengths and weaknesses of a bloated squad and, before kick-off here, the six changes he made to the side who faced Bournemouth three days earlier felt like an audition for some players.
But he still managed to pick a team who secured what is only Forest’s third away win since promotion. It was a landmark performance and result.
And Nuno inspired it by getting the best out of three men in particular — Chris Wood, Anthony Elanga and Morgan Gibbs-White — and helping Forest to replicate the kind of performance that became Wolverhampton Wanderers’ trademark during his time in charge at Molineux from 2017-21.
Forest had 13 fast breaks in Tuesday’s game and finished it with an expected goals (xG) number of 3.3 — their highest since returning to the Premier League. They also produced numerous heart-in-mouth moments defensively, but could have scored more than their three goals as they repeatedly hurt Newcastle on the counter-attack.
Wood became the fourth striker in the Premier League era to record a hat-trick against one of his former clubs. He had three shots on goal — and scored with every one of them. The first was a tap-in — but the other two were netted with confidence and quality in equal measure.
Nuno insisted that Wood can be a prolific goalscorer for Forest. Had Cooper made that argument a few weeks ago, he would have been laughed out of town. But with four goals in two games under new management, prolific is starting to feel like a fair description for the New Zealand captain.
“We know him, and everyone knows him,” said Nuno. “The way he did it, the way he scored, and the way he was in the right moments… the second goal was beautiful. The composure to flick the ball over the ’keeper? The talent is there.
“I believe he can be (a prolific scorer). It is about the team helping him. It is about how we want to do things, to create chances for him. But I am very happy with him now.”
Chris Wood is at the double!
The New Zealand striker puts Nottingham Forest 2-1 ahead with a wonderful finish.#NUFC | #NFFC | #NEWNFO
🎥 @primevideosport pic.twitter.com/JzvftAvoBB
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) December 26, 2023
Elanga sparked memories of Adam Traorethe winger who was central to the swift attacking style Nuno favoured at Wolves. The Swede might not oil up his biceps as the Spaniard did, but he can have the same sort of impact.
Moved over to the right side from his more regular left, Elanga tormented Dan Burnthe Newcastle left-back, from minute one. It was a surprise that Burn was not withdrawn at half-time. When he did get the hook in the 55th minute, it was an act of mercy.
Elanga was the catalyst for two of Wood’s goals, firstly with a cross and then when he played the ball in to the striker’s feet before he produced that composed finish. He would have had an assist before that had he squared the ball to Wood rather than having a shot himself.
Wood’s hat-trick goal came after Murillo picked him out with a beautifully-weighted ball down the centre. The manner in which he then rounded Martin Dubravkabefore firing into the empty net, suggests that Nuno has revived his confidence.
But as the new Forest head coach pointed out, it was not just about Wood’s quality — but the chances his colleagues created for him. Nuno believed his team could find spaces for Elanga and Callum Hudson-Odoi to create in if they could play their way through Newcastle’s press — and his hunch was spot on.
Nuno is still getting to know most of this squad but one he has worked with before is Gibbs-White, who was named captain here.
While Cooper had taken to utilising the former Wolves player on the right, Gibbs-White again looked more comfortable and effective playing in his favoured No 10 role. The 4-2-3-1 formation Nuno has utilised has made all of the front four look more natural in their roles.
Nuno paid tribute to Cooper for helping to improve Gibbs-White as a player during his time as Forest coach — polishing the rough diamond he had during his time at Molineux.
It may only be one performance but it is hard to escape the notion that Nuno is quickly finding a way to get the best out of the players he inherited.
Top photo: Nuno and Elanga salute the away fans; Andy Buchanan/AFP via Getty Images)
