On 1 February final yr Forest introduced the signing of Matz Sels from Ligue 1 aspect Strasbourg for a charge of about £5m.
Matt Turner had joined from Arsenal for £10m in the summertime earlier than, whereas Forest additionally purchased Benfica’s Odysseas Vlachodimos.
Turner made 21 appearances in all competitions and Vlachodimos seven, earlier than Nuno – who changed Steve Cooper in December 2023 – turned to Sels.
The Belgian new arrival managed only one clear sheet – towards West Ham – and conceded 27 instances as Forest survived.
Nevertheless, with the addition of Milenkovic and Morato in defence over the summer season, becoming a member of the spectacular Brazilian Murillo on the Metropolis Floor, they now boast one of many tightest backlines.
“Forest will do effectively to maintain maintain of Murillo long run. He is an unbelievable younger participant,” stated Morgan, who’s now a nationwide scout at Forest, having performed over 400 video games for the Reds earlier than switching to Leicester.
“Milenkovic has come alongside and simply complemented him. Positioning between each gamers is sweet and I believe that is key to a profitable defence.”
Morgan associated it to the partnership he and Robert Huth had at Leicester, including: “That understanding between me and Huthy, we may play with our eyes closed and I knew precisely the place he was going to be. That is the identical for Murillo and Milenkovic.”
The defensive unit, together with Sels, Ola Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Morato and Neco Williams has value Forest simply over £50m.
Together with Liverpool, Forest have conceded simply 19 objectives in 20 video games – solely Arsenal have shipped much less.
“The championship just isn’t over but and we wish to be sure that the variety of clear sheets solely continues to go up,” says Morato, underlining the willpower inside the squad, who’ve made essentially the most clearances within the league – 563 – this season.
Sels has confronted 259 photographs, stage with Crystal Palace’s Dean Henderson, and solely behind Brentford’s Mark Flekken with 342 and Mads Hermansen of Leicester who has confronted 287.
Not all of these photographs went heading in the right direction, however Sels has been stored busy sufficient and has excelled. He has a save share of 75.3%, which is the best of any goalkeeper who has performed greater than 500 minutes within the Premier League.
The anticipated objectives towards Forest this season – 21.7 – can be solely overwhelmed by Liverpool and Arsenal.
Sels’ affect has been immediate. Since 1 February, Forest have conceded 46 objectives within the Premier League, with solely Arsenal, Manchester Metropolis and Liverpool bettering them.
#Nottingham #Forest #information #Reds #emulate #Leicester #successful #Premier #League
, 2025-01-13 20:00:00
