How good are Nottingham Forest actually?

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Nottingham Forest are third in the Premier League table, just 2 points behind Arsenal and with the second best defensive record in the league.

Nuno Espirito Santos is clearly working some magic in the Midlands. But how are they so successful this season and is this sustainable?

Joe Devine, JJ Bull and Jon Mackenzie are joined by The Athletic's staff writer, Nick Miller, to find out how good Nottingham Forest are actually.

This is The Athletic's Week in Football.

#premierleague #nottinghamforest #soccer

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Timestamps:
00:00 How Good Are Nottingham Forest Actually?
00:21 What On Earth Is Happening At Forest?
01:56 Why Is It Working For Forest?
08:31 How Teams Might Play Against Forest
14:48 Is This Sustainable?
15:17 The Chris Wood Conundrum
20:20 Who’s The Next Chris Wood?
21:51 The Unsung Hero Of Nottingham Forest
26:48 Marinakis’ Plan For Nottingham Forest
29:09 Forest’s Evolving Transfer Strategy
35:05 Lazio’s Enhanced Ex-Falconer | The Athletic FC Newsletter
35:44 Can Nottingham Forest Qualify For The Champions League?

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Additional footage sourced from AP Newsroom

[TheAthleticFC]

Where will Nottingham Forest finish this season? Correct guesses will get a signed Nick Miller photo (should he agree to it. Admin hasn't asked) 👇

[ethanwalshe]

1:03 the cut to the wide shot when JJ says “the big picture” was masterful

[yhgtbfk]

Thank you. Enjoyed that thoroughly. The whole Ryan Yates bit had me in stitches. So good to see him properly acknowledged for the exact reasons why we love him.

[scifimonkey]

41 points from 21 games says it all. Just shows that the post Pep obsession with possession is not the be all and end all of football.

[captainhowdy]

Last season, if you took Forest's terrible set piece defending out of the equation, they would have been a solid mid-table side. Also, when they managed to get Murillo and Boly on the field together, they were one of the best defensive partnerships in the league. Problem was that Boly could barely stay fit. So if you plug Milenkovic into that, you've gone quite some way to explaining why Forest have drastically improved. Add Woods' form and Sels being outstanding and there you go.

That'll be 500 quid please.

[sevenb]

Forest fans knew something special was just around the corner. In a poll taken at the beginning of the season. Fans of each club were asked how optimistic they felt about their teams prospects for the coming season. Forest topped that table.
Us forest fans have known that a change was coming, all the signs were clear to see to those who truly watched. We didn't expect a champions league charge, granted. But we knew that the media was going to be getting a shock.
Enjoyed the video, especially the end when most of you continued to doubt us. Like Cloughie said, "I hope anybody's not stupid enough to write us off".

[Batman_Courage]

Yates being mentioned shows elite ball knowledge. Just subscribed

[ThePerks]

They've also got pretty much the entirety of England's youth midfield setup between 2018-2022

[vasanthramalingam]

If chris wood could, chris wood would

[K-snkm]

One thing that wasn't mentioned was the fact that Forest got promoted a season earlier than expected - this was the reason they had so many loan players and players not good enough to play premier football. They had no option but to buy. They managed to stay up by pure guts, determination and commitment kept them in the prem. The forest fans were so optimist this year in that pole as they knew once we managed to consolidate and get the players they needed to compete then they would once again be a force to recon with. I think they are still ahead of schedule but because of the belief, spirit and a great manager with the players playing a style that suits out makeup they have managed to maintain the progression.

A quality assessment guys and great to see Yates been picked out. He may not be the most talented but he sure bleeds Red and an example for younger players that its not all about talent - hard work and commitment and using your brain can get to far in life and football!

[jamespreston]

You failed to mention the MOST important thing about Ryan Yates
The G'DMN CONSTANT HUGE SMILE on his face while he's doing all the things he does 😁😁😁

[davidb]

Thank you, im so fed up of people calling us a low block team when generally we are not - hopefully this educates some people

[anirudhraghavarachuri]

8:54 JJ and Joe's chemistry is hilarious

[SerioussoccerfanYT]

Forest chasing the mighty Liverpool..just like they did in the Clough years. It's great to see a historic club like Nottingham forest do well after decades in the doldrums. Forest were England's second biggest club (behind Liverpool) until the turn of the century. Nuno, backed by the Eve Marinakis' spending spree, has built a foxy side and revitalised the club. 🦊

[Alex-tzr]

Not a bad assessment of Forest. The only significant omission would be the fact that in the 5 games in the first half of the season in which we had over 50% possession we were still undefeated. We won 3 and drew 2, so “giving Forest the ball” isn’t really a way to combat us. However, if opponents want to try giving us the ball more I’m sure the team won’t mind! 
P.s. I think Forest will finish 5th. COYR

[airzee]

So good to have this alternative insight. Its been horrible to finally get back to the prem and have to listen to the Garys undermine everything we do and have subtle digs at our club and style of play rather than give us our flowers. Great analysis. Who needs sky or bbc! 👏🏼

[MartinL-ij]

An interesting point. When Forest pass, they’re absolutely phenomenal at it. When conditions are right they’re passing very tight to create conditions for traps to play that effective attack. It obviously helps with such quality in the attack. Spot on re Newcastle finding a way though, but that shows you how difficult it is to play against them. You should look at Bayern Leverkusen, same as Forest

[jasonwright]

Last season it took the PL the first ten games to work Tottenham out and now its another @50 games on and Tottenham has failed to come up with a plan B. Forest have played 21 games this season so far. Nuno is a smart coach. He's working on a plan B and a plan C. He has a vison for the team's future style of play. It will require some new additions to the squad. That takes time. This team will evolve.

[markgoodson]

Forest have played best club in Prem in a return fixture and taken four points.Nuno had two successive seasons of seventh place finish with similar approach without atail off.

[nffclacey]

We're by far the greatest team you've ever seen and it's Nottingham forest