The last 12 months were jam-packed full of special moments on the banks of the Trent. Each one a marker on Nottingham Forest’s path to success and their elevation to the Premier League.
It felt entirely fitting, therefore, that the Reds should start the new year at home; the place which encapsulates so much of what the club is about under Steve Cooper and which was right at the heart of an incredible 2022. The City Ground will be central to how this year pans out, too.
Forest might not have got a New Year’s Day win over Chelsea, even though it would have been entirely deserved. But what they did do was once again show the progress they are continuing to make. ‘Just Can’t Get Enough’ didn’t ring out at the end, but this was still one of those occasions to savour; one with a brilliant second half performance against one of the league’s big boys amid an electric atmosphere. And the point which Cooper’s men came away with at the end of it might not have lifted them out of the relegation zone, but it demonstrated they do have it within them to get out of there.
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In its own unique way, Sunday was just as memorable as beating Liverpool or Tottenham Hotspur. It was, as Cooper spoke about afterwards, another reference point to illustrate what this group has the potential to become.
Stunning second half
Up until the point at which they fell behind - to something of a flukey goal - the Reds had started well. They’d had a decent spell early on, with Morgan Gibbs-White and Brennan Johnson combining to force a double-save from Kepa Arrizabalaga, and had looked pretty comfortable.
It wasn’t as though Chelsea had a glut of chances after they had taken the lead, either. But they were allowed to have too much time on the ball as the hosts dropped off and showed their opponents too much respect.
The second half was a completely different story. Forest played with much more intensity and belief. Their press meant the visitors had barely a moment’s respite. The midfield took control. The back line looked assured. And, at the top end of the pitch, they looked a threat.
All of that is what Cooper wants this Forest side to be. That is the identity he is trying to stamp on the team.
He has spoken many times before about the challenges of doing that with a new-look group, and he did so again after the game. “We are past the infancy of putting it together now, but we are not close to being established, in terms of our identity,” he said. “What you’ve got to do while you are doing that is win enough games and pick up enough points, because that is what everyone is judging. We are trying to tackle all of those things.
“But, on and off the pitch, there has definitely been progression, including stuff that people won’t see in and around the training ground. What we’ve got to do is keep committing to that.”
Fighting back
Forest have found responding to going behind tough in the Premier League. As if forcing a breakthrough against canny, established teams wasn’t hard enough, it becomes an even greater task when opponents have a lead to protect.
Cooper’s side had come from 2-1 down to earn a draw against Brentford in November, but they had opened the scoring in that game. Sunday was the first time they had got something from a game in which the opposition had found the net first.
It might not seem like much to some, but it is the kind of marker which helps build the belief Cooper has referred to so much in recent weeks. If it happens again, the Reds have shown they can come back; they have a blueprint to work from.
The spirit they showed in the second half was immense. And the crowd got right behind them, pushing the players on. A wave of noise rolled around the stands whenever Forest got the ball and raced forward.
Home form is going to be crucial to the club’s survival mission. Cooper admitted afterwards that fans and players being irked by refereeing decisions not going their way before the break only served to fire up the whole stadium. By the end of it, a point was the least the hosts deserved. Indeed, they were left with mixed feelings afterwards about not taking all three. If the game was going to go one way, it would have been in their favour.
“One of the things I didn’t quite like at Manchester United - and it was obviously always going to be really, really tough there - was that, after we had gone 1-0 down and 2-0 down, we didn’t do enough to try to get back in the game,” the manager said afterwards. “Even if we didn’t get back into it, you’ve still got to try.
“This time, I thought our whole attitude and intensity were at really good levels, hence why we came back from being 1-0 down.We could have easily gone, ‘oh no, here we go, an unlucky goal, playing okay’. But we raised our game, if anything.
“Even the last 10, 15 minutes of the first half, we were starting to improve. It was a good reaction. We’ve also had some bad reactions after going 1-0 down this year, so that’s something we need to talk about.”
Terrific Taiwo
The Reds performed as a team in that second half. They worked as a collective unit. But they were buoyed by a number of excellent individual displays, too.
Serge Aurier has been a key figure amid the turnaround in fortunes. Although guilty of being caught out of position for the opener, he more than made up for that by regaining his usual composure and then showing great control to bag the equaliser. He immediately sprinted over to the Forest bench to celebrate.
Willy Boly, too, recovered from having inadvertently played a part in Raheem Sterling’s goal with the flick which bounced off the bar, to being a towering presence at the back. Chelsea were left with very little change - and Dean Henderson with little to do - from the 31-year-old’s partnership with Joe Worrall.
Even so, there was no doubt about who should take the man of the match award. Taiwo Awoniyi has taken a little while to find his feet since moving Trentside in the summer, but against the Blues he demonstrated just what a menace he can be. He was a real thorn in the visitors’ side, using his strength and making powerful runs. Keep playing like that, and with a system which suits him, he can cause problems for any number of sides in the top-flight.
Attacking threat
The news that Jesse Lingard will be out of action for a month is a blow. He had just begun to find form in the Garibaldi. The former Man United man was left watching on from the sidelines at the City Ground, kicking every ball, cheering every move and animatedly disagreeing with decisions which didn’t go Forest’s way. He barely sat still.
In his absence, much of the responsibility for the Reds’ attacking threat will fall on Gibbs-White and Johnson. Having Gibbs-White back from injury was a huge boost ahead of kick-off, and he picked up from where he left off. He was a proper livewire, at the heart of much of the positive play, but doing so alongside a tremendous work-rate which was vital to the team performance.
Prior to the game, Cooper had pointed out how important it is to remember the likes of Gibbs-White, Johnson and Neco Williams are still developing as players - and they are doing so amid the harsh spotlight of the Premier League. Those three might not always get it right, but the potential they have is huge.
“Sometimes you can associate individual success with how a team is doing, but sometimes you have to separate that,” Cooper had said. “Look at these young players, the work we are doing with them to see them grow to become the players we want them to become.
“Sometimes that’s dealing with difficult moments. Whether that be results or a bad run of form. I’m talking about the likes of Brennan, Morgan, Neco - they’re all playing Premier League football regularly for the first time in their careers.
“It’s great and exciting. They’re in a team that’s finding its way as well. That adds to the complexity for them.
“And okay, we want them to do really well and deliver and give us good impact but all of what they are experiencing at the moment is good for them. Even if they think times are tough and difficult, it’s moments like that which end up who you become. We’re enjoying giving them that opportunity and supporting them along the way.”
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