Anthony Elanga explains Nuno’s secrets at Nottingham Forest – ‘It’s not rocket science’
When Anthony Elanga ran 85 metres in nine seconds with the ball at his feet and then dispatched it for a winner against Manchester United, some of the reaction was predictable. There is another mistake made by Old Trafford management in recent years.
But in 55 appearances for United, Elanga scored four goals and made four assists and, when he left at the end of the 2022-23 season, Erik ten Hag had a plethora of wide attacking options. What United and its academy actually deserve is credit for helping nurture such an impressive young player and character.
And what the Nottingham Forest staff and Nuno Espírito Santo deserve is credit for expertly continuing to educate Elanga in a footballing sense. The most important factor in that education, of course, is the player’s willingness to learn and it is clear Elanga has always had a thirst for improvement.
“I appreciate Manchester United so much because I learnt a lot there,” says Elanga, who won the prestigious Jimmy Murphy Youth Team Player of the Year award at United in 2020. “I took another step to come here (to Forest) and I have learnt a different type of football here as well.
“All you want to do is to keep on improving and I feel like coming here is about playing and developing every day. I know I’m not the finished article – I can always improve in every single area.”
The ‘different type of football’ is now a distinctive Forest way – call it Nuno-ball, if you wish. Forest sit a comfortable third in the Premier League table but no team has had less possession, no team has had fewer touches, no team has made fewer passes.
“It’s not rocket science – you can see it all over the internet,” says Elanga. “We have probably got the lowest possession in the league but it has been effective and it is something we have been working on since pre-season.
“It’s a different type of football but it’s important for a player to be able to play different types of football. At the same time, you want to play football – you want to have the ball. But we have got qualities to hit teams on the counter.”
And Elanga, 22, says Forest’s methods are not quite as simple as they seem, explaining: “We have changed the way we want to play this season as well. It’s not just always sitting back and hitting on the counter. Sometimes, I can roam, I can go into the number ten.
“It’s about every player finding the space and working for each other and that is what we have been doing this season. Every player can play every position and that togetherness is important. It shows on the pitch – how we work for each other. We have got 13 clean sheets so far and hopefully many more to go.”
And actually, just a few more clean sheets and a few more points will guarantee a Champions League place and another step on Elana’s impressive learning curve.
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