Marco Silva snubs £30m Nottingham Forest star as he names Nuno Espirito Santo’s ideal midfield
Nottingham Forest have a dilemma on their hands in the midfield now, with the reintroduction of two stars from injury adding extra quality to the mix.
When James Ward-Prowse was recalled by West Ham on the winter transfer deadline day, there was no real panic at the City Ground due to the strength in depth in the centre of the pitch.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s tactics have been praised this season so it seems unlikely that the Portuguese coach will look to tweak his formation to add another midfielder to the mix, with the two sitting midfielders behind an attacking option working well.
Key to this success has been the signing of Elliot Anderson, who joined from Newcastle United in the summer and has cemented his place in the two-man centre, so much so that Forest fans think Anderson deserves an England call-up.
Now that Brazilian midfielder Danilo has returned from injury, even Anderson’s place isn’t necessarily secure in the starting Forest squad, with the options at Espirito Santo’s disposal leading to Fulham boss Marco Silva attempting to pick his hypothetical preferred options.
Marco Silva names the Nottingham Forest midfielders he’d pick
Returning to Premier League action after beating Exeter City in the FA Cup on Tuesday, Forest travel to Fulham who themselves are chasing a European football position.
Silva was expectedly quizzed on Forest’s remarkable season so far in his pre-match press conference, specifically how he would handle the midfield dilemma that Espirito Santo faces.
Speaking to the official Fulham website, he said: “Let’s see how the game goes. We know really well how Nottingham Forest plays.
“When you are able to put together, in the same team, Danilo, Anderson and [Morgan] Gibbs-White, and with [Anthony] Elanga and [Callum] Hudson-Odoi, all in the same XI, these type of players, and with the striker [Chris Wood] that is completely on fire, for sure the best season of his career in the Premier League, of course, everything together makes them be really confident.”
Naming Danilo, Anderson and Morgan Gibbs-White, Silva has clearly picked who he thinks the Forest manager should be leaning towards in the midfield.
Notably, Ryan Yates and Ibrahim Sangare were left out of the Fulham coach’s mind which will be a surprise to Forest fans due to how well Sangare played against Exeter.
Forest paid £30m for Sangare from PSV in 2023 but suffered an injury this season which left the space for Anderson and Yates to star in the midfield for the majority of this season.
However, Yates was actually partnered by a different pairing in the September meeting between the two sides, a match that didn’t quite go to plan for Espirito Santo.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s midfield experiment didn’t pay off vs Fulham
Forest lost 1-0 to Fulham in a rare City Ground defeat in September, a match that saw Espirito Santo start Taiwo Awoniyi against Fulham alongside Chris Wood.
Forest felt they should’ve had a penalty against Fulham which may have changed the result but regardless, Espirito Santo’s tactical decision in midfield didn’t play out in the way he intended.
The Forest boss selected Yates and Ward-Prowse in the centre of the park, with Anderson and Nicolas Dominguez in the wide positions to provide a more narrow look to the side.
The decision clearly didn’t work, though as both ‘wide’ options were hooked off before the hour mark to get proper pace out wide, the very same pace that has seen Forest dominate in the wide areas ever since the defeat.
Espirito Santo may well disagree with Silva in his choice for Forest’s midfield, but one thing that should be clear is that the experiment in the reverse fixture didn’t pay off, so a resumption of the usual midfield system is more than likely.
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