Hard work undertaken in the summer is paying off for Nottingham Forest amid their flying start to the Premier League campaign. Head coach Nuno Espirito Santo has played a pivotal role in this turnaround, thanks to an intensive pre-season regime. The team’s preparation included a rigorous training camp in Spain, aimed at pushing players to their limits and understanding their commitment to the cause. Nuno had felt at a disadvantage last season, having replaced Steve Cooper in December, and saw the summer as a crucial period to imprint his vision on the team. The result of these efforts is evident, with the Reds currently sitting seventh in the table.
Nuno Espirito Santo said, “Without a pre-season, you just inherit something, another vision, and that is hard, especially for me. It is not just about the tactical, it is the bonds. When you have a chance to be one month together, and for two of those weeks, almost 80 percent of your day is spent together, on the training pitch, at meals, in meetings, you get to know the player better. Once you understand their behaviours, then, because you understand them better, you can understand which buttons you should push in the right moment. It was very hot and they played for one hour. When they are very tired, almost dead, that is when you really know how far a guy is willing to go; when he is hot, sweating, and now he wants water, but you make him go on. No one will be able to see your personal information and you will only receive messages from the NottinghamshireLive Reds writers. Likewise, Nuno says how players respond to missing out on a match day can be telling. Forest are a tight-knit group thanks to the relationships developed from pre-season onwards. When a player is not in the team but he is still there giving advice to a player in the same position because he wants the best for the team, he is not thinking of himself, this is something that I value a lot. This is something that you can only build when you have time, and the environment is ready, and pre-season was good for that.”
