Nottingham Forest have now played six matches without picking up a win, losing five in the process.
The latest defeat occurred last Friday in a 2-0 home loss to Spurs, which puts Forest 17th in the Premier League with 14 points from 17 games.
With that in mind, it is no surprise that Steve Cooper has just been sacked by Forest, with ex-Tottenham Hotspur boss Nuno Espirito Santo set to take charge immediately, according to the Mirror.
Nuno Santo’s managerial stats
The 49-year-old manager is best known for his time at Wolves, where he coached his side to a Championship title and consecutive seventh-place finishes following that promotion. He brought European football to the club, making it all the way to the Europa League quarterfinals in 2020.
Most recently, Santo has been coaching in Saudi Arabia with Al-Ittihad, where he was sacked last month following a run of five Saudi Pro League games without a win. However, two of the three trophies of the ex-Spurs boss' managerial career occurred in Saudi Arabia.
The table below is an overview of Santo’s career, showing his win rate and experience.
Al-Ittihad
53
37
Spurs
17
9
Wolves
199
96
Porto
49
27
Valencia
62
32
Rio Ave
80
32
How Nuno Santo can get the best out of Anthony Elanga
Santo’s approach to football is very reminiscent of Jose Mourinho’s, with the defensive side of the game prioritised before any form of attack can be considered. This is a slightly tedious way of playing, which means that when results are going your way, it's good, but when the team is losing, it can be extremely uninspiring.
However, a player who can thrive with Santo at the helm is ex-Manchester United forward Anthony Elanga. The £25k-per-week Sweden international has been effective for Forest since being signed for £15.1m in the summer, particularly from the bench – with the 2-1 defeat to Arsenal where he got an assist and the 1-0 win versus Chelsea where he scored the winner springing to mind.
Overall, the 21-year-old has contributed six goals in just 11 starts this season, and with the right system, the new boss could unearth his next Diogo Jota – a player who scored 53 goals and contributed 27 assists under Santo's watch in 169 outings.
Just like the Liverpool player did under Santo at Wolves, Elanga can feature off the left as a winger, playing off a target man such as Taiwo Awoniyi, the equivalent of Jota’s Raul Jimenez, or even as a lone striker if needed.
This system could easily be replicated at Forest, with Santo having similar players who fit the successful mold. Elanga would most likely feature behind the Nigerian attacker on the left, partnering Morgan Gibbs-White in the attack of the preferred 3-4-2-1/3-4-3.
Elanga is at his best when he has space to run into, using the “electric” pace that Paul Robinson recently praised him for to breeze past opponents on the counterattack. The United academy graduate is the definition of an athlete, and Santo’s sit-in, soak-up-the-pressure, and go approach would suit Elanga perfectly.
The main difference between Jota and the Forest winger is that the former Wolves player displayed more natural goalscoring traits, but with focused training from Santo on finishing and potentially chance creation, there is no reason why Elanga cannot even surpass the Wolves version of Jota.