Welcome to The Debrief, a Sky Sports column in which Adam Bate uses a blend of data and opinion to reflect on some of the key stories from the latest Premier League matches. This week:
- Nottingham Forest’s shift in style
- Life after dribblers for Crystal Palace
- Leeds have a difference maker
Postecoglou already changing Forest
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from Burnley’s draw against Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest had 63.3 per cent of the possession in their 1-1 draw at Burnley. That is the most they have had in any Premier League game since their return to the competition in 2022. Ange Postecoglou’s influence on this team is already apparent.
Elliot Anderson completed 98 passes. Oleksandr Zinchenko, in his first Premier League start for Forest, completed 88. Nobody else has made 80 successful passes in the four seasons since their return. This increased focus on passing is a significant style shift.
In total, it was the first time that Forest had completed 500 passes in a Premier League game in that period, breaking the record of 484 set in a home defeat to Everton in what proved to be the penultimate home game of Steve Cooper’s time in charge.
They became a different beast under Nuno Espirito Santo.
Delve deeper into the data and the scale of the shift under Postecoglou only becomes more obvious. Forest had 24 pass sequences of 10 or more in the game against Burnley. That is six more than their next highest total across the last four seasons.
For those who might argue it was only Burnley, consider the fact that they did not register a single such sequence on their previous visit to Turf Moor against already relegated opposition – and won that game thanks to two goals from Chris Wood.
Then add in the fact that Forest had 13 of these sequences away to Arsenal in Postecoglou’s first game in charge – that total ranking in the top 12 out of their 119 Premier League games since the 2022/23 season. This is a deliberate change of tactic.
The change is so dramatic that Forest actually top the table when it comes to these sequences as well as its accompanying metric ‘build-up attacks’ – tallying the number of times these sequences result in a shot or a touch in the opposition penalty box.
Forest were 18th and 19th on these metrics last season under Nuno. In truth, the Portuguese coach had begun to oversee this shift himself, perhaps recognising during the latter part of last season that his team had to evolve a little in search of new solutions.
Expect it to become more pronounced under Postecoglou. The optimistic interpretation would be that they now have a man who is better suited to playing with the ball, that he could be the coach to help players like Anderson and Morgan Gibbs-White flourish.
Elliot Anderson broke a passing record for Nottingham Forest against Burnley
The pessimist might take the view that in the process Forest risk losing what made them so special, the unique approach that carried them up to third in the Premier League table as late as April of last season. This appears to be a very different Forest now.
Whether that works for them is another matter.
Palace find a way without dribblers
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Highlights from the Premier League match between West Ham and Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace are sticking with what works for them under Oliver Glasner, although on the subject of style shifts it is worth acknowledging that the side has changed a lot under his watch. Palace had been a team full of exciting dribblers. They are gone now.
Wilfried Zaha exited in 2023. Ballon d’Or nominated Michael Olise departed in the summer of 2024. Fan favourite Eberechi Eze has followed them out the door this summer. Even the richest teams in the Premier League might struggle to swallow that.
Palace have gone from ranking among the top four in the Premier League for successful dribbles in the 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons, to being last on that metric last season and this. But this version of Palace do not need to dribble to win games under Glasner.
Their wing-backs get involved, as Tyrick Mitchell did to spectacular effect at West Ham, while Jean-Philippe Mateta has emerged as an elite target man. There will be times when that spark of old is missed by the supporters, but there is life after the dribblers.
Okafor can be wild card for Leeds
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from Leeds’s win against Wolves in the Premier League
On the subject of dribblers, a mention for Noah Okafor who attempted 14 dribbles in Leeds’ 3-1 win over Wolves at Molineux. That is a season high in the Premier League with 12 of them coming in a first-half performance capped by him scoring Leeds’ third goal.
The £18m signing from AC Milan is far from complete. Only six of his 14 dribbles were successful and he can be loose on the ball. But the Switzerland international looks a good foil for Dominic Calvert-Lewin. And newly-promoted teams need difference makers.
Even players who are capable of turning it on occasionally can help scramble the points required to achieve safety. Without Matheus Cunha, Rayan Ait-Nouri and even Pablo Sarabia, Wolves look short of those players. Leeds look to have found one in Okafor.