It’s been a busy international break at Nottingham Forest, but could their weekend opponents Arsenal be the biggest short-term beneficiaries?
Last week, after a public falling out with owner Evangelos Marinakis, Nuno Espírito Santo was sacked as Forest manager, with Ange Postecoglou unveiled as his replacement the following morning.
One could not really find a bigger stylistic shift in world football than going from Nuno to Ange, so it’ll be fascinating to see how Forest set up at the Emirates, given the success they enjoyed last season in big games by sitting deep and counter attacking.
We’re assuming a rather different approach will be on show henceforth.
During his time across North London with Tottenham, Postecoglou’s team were renowned for their high line, most memorably during Spurs’ infamous 4-1 defeat at the hands of Chelsea, in which they went down to nine men but continued playing their way.
Well, as Arsenal look to expose such a tactic come Saturday lunchtime, which member of Mikel Arteta’s squad will help get the best out of their new superstar centre-forward?
Viktor Gyökeres' start to life as Arsenal's number nine
After three Premier League games, Viktor Gyökeres has made a mixed start to life at Arsenal.
In the big away games at Old Trafford and Anfield, the Swedish centre-forward has been nothing more than a peripheral figure, touching the ball a mere 15 times on Merseyside, after enjoying only 19 touches against Manchester United.
However, in between, as Arteta’s side demolished Leeds United 5-0 at home, Gyökeres bagged a brace, the second a penalty but the first a trademark goal, bursting in behind, cutting inside from the left and deceiving Lucas Perri by lashing into the near bottom corner.
As Arsenal supporters who spent the entire summer watching goal completions will know, during his two seasons at Sporting CP, scoring a whopping 97 goals for the Lisbon-based giants, a lot of his goals in the Primeira Liga were just like that.
The problem is, in the vast majority of home matches, opposition teams sit deep and frustrate Arsenal, a challenge they often fail to overcome, resulting in the Gunners dropping points when Everton, West Ham, Brentford and others visited last season.
Well, now that Forest are led by Postecoglou, one would imagine they will not set up in that way, potentially making this the perfect game for Gyökeres, but which teammate will unleash his full potential?
The Arsenal star looking to rediscover his magic
Among many of the issues that inhibited Arsenal last season was the downturn in form endured by Martin Ødegaard.
The £30m midfielder suffered an ankle injury during Norway’s 2-1 victory over Austria on 9 September last year, making his return against Inter Milan in the Champions League on 6 November, but it was clear that he wasn’t 100% fit that night at San Siro, nor for the rest of the season thereafter if we’re honest.
Thus, with most hoping a summer rest would help Ødegaard get back to his best, it was far from ideal that he suffered a shoulder injury against Leeds but, after starting both internationals last week, he’ll be available to take on Forest this weekend.
Last season, the captain contributed just six goals and 12 assists, having registered 11 goals and 12 assists the season before, his most productive campaign in front of goal coming back in 2022/23, when he netted 15 times in the Premier League.
So, could the arrival of Gyökeres help Ødegaard get back to his best?
Well, Norway’s World Cup qualifier this week gave us a sense of what he can still produce, scoring once and bagging two assists for Erling Braut Håland as they annihilated Moldova 11-1 in Oslo on Tuesday.
Ødegaard played some stupendous through balls for Håland at the Ullevål, and his statistics in UEFA World Cup qualifying more broadly underline how productive he can still be.
Shots
16
8th
Passes
400
6th
Accurate passes
357
8th
Acc passes attacking half
258
4th
Big chances created
7
2nd
Key passes
27
1st
Passes to assist
2
1st
Average Sofascore rating
8.76
5th
As the table documents, Ødegaard has been one of the most outstanding players in European World Cup qualifying, central to Norway’s success, Ståle Solbakken’s side having won five out of five so far, scoring 24 goals, thereby on the cusp of a first major tournament since Euro 2000.
His tally of 27 key passes is eight more than Sorba Thomas of Wales and Czechia’s Václav Černý, who are joint-second on the list.
So now, can Arsenal’s club captain replicate this form at club level?
Well, in many ways, Gyökeres and Håland are very similar centre-forwards, with the Swede currently going through a comparable adaptation period that the Norwegian endured during his early months at Manchester City.
Chalkboard
Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.
So, while there is obviously plenty of clamour for Eberechi Eze to make his full-Arsenal debut, Arteta must get his captain back in the lineup this weekend, possibly alongside Eze, as he will get the best out of Gyökeres, thereby taking advantage of Postecoglou’s kamikaze high line.
