‘I’m watching’: Unai Emery sees shades of another team in Nottingham Forest

Forest were high on the list of relegation candidates at the start of the season, with Gary Lineker predicting Forest to go down before a ball was even kicked.

However, Lineker and the skeptics have been proven wrong by Espirito Santo and his Forest coaching staff. With 21 less games won than the English coach, Espirito Santo has surpassed Steve Cooper’s Premier League record.

Ian Wright added to Espirito Santo’s growing following this season by praising the Portuguese manager’s usage of substitutes.

Another admirer is Unai Emery, the manager of Aston Villa, who has showered the Nottingham Forest manager with praise ahead of their Saturday visit to the City Ground.

Unai Emery praises ‘competitive’ Nuno Espirito Santo

In his pre-match press conference, Emery was keen to pay tribute to Espirito Santo, with Forest becoming one of Villa’s rivals for European football this season.

He said: “Nuno was the coach when we played [Forest] at Villa Park but it was a little bit different. Now, I think I can see Nottingham Forest with his face and his identity.

“We always play tough games against each other, even losing to Wolverhampton at Arsenal that time. Nuno is always very competitive […].”
Emery is correct to point out that he and Espirito Santo are rivals. In their seven meetings as coaches, the two have won two of them and drawn the other three.

Even though this Nottingham Forest team is a novel idea for Emery, he acknowledged that he sees potential in it that will tremendously thrill Forest supporters.

Emery sees shades of Espirito Santo’s Wolves side in Forest

Continuing his press conference, Emery suggested that the current Forest side has similarities with Espirito Santo’s Wolves team which qualified for the Europa League in the 2019/20 season.

Emery said: “His [Espirito Santo’s] experience is really important, even in Europe. I [at Sevilla] played Nuno and his Wolverhampton team in the Europa League because they finished 6th in the Premier League, they played against Sevilla in the Quarter Final.

He is now a rival for our team, and I’m saying this because I’m witnessing something similar here with Nottingham.

Thus, it is evident that Emery admires Espirito Santo, as the Villa coach anticipates a tough test from Forest not just on Saturday but all season long.

Espirito Santo will be remembered as one of Nottingham Forest’s most significant and influential coaches if he can lead the team back into Europe for the first time since 1981.