The last time Nottingham Forest suffered a 5-0 defeat, the club was gripped by uncertainty and instability.
A painful night in Fulham in December 2023 ended with Steve Cooper’s future hanging in the balance as the head coach offered what felt like a farewell to the travelling fans after the final whistle.
Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis had left his seat at Craven Cottage early, roughly around the time of the fourth goal, with his accreditation lanyard subsequently discovered by a Fulham fan in a nearby garden.
Roughly two weeks later, Cooper was ushered out of the exit and a new era, under Nuno Espirito Santo, began.
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Just over a year later, Forest again capitulated in a 5-0 defeat — but felt more painful than their last. The dynamic at the club has changed dramatically.
Defeat at Fulham had not been a surprise, but at Bournemouth, what unfolded was both unexpected and entirely out of character. That you did not see it coming is a source of concern, but it also provides a sense of perspective.
Nothing about this chastening, humiliating defeat represented anything this Forest side has become known for during a remarkable season. The environment around the club is as stable and positive as it has been in years.
In the build-up to the game, two key men, Murillo and Chris Wood, demonstrated their commitment to the club by signing new contracts. The club are hopeful Ola Aina and Morgan Gibbs-White will be the next to follow. Nuno replaced the popular Cooper and he has established his own positive relationship with supporters through his outstanding job of transforming them into Champions League contenders.
This was not the 51st birthday present Nuno wanted or deserved.
But while Forest’s previous 5-0 defeat was followed by seismic change, the biggest challenge facing Nuno is how to get Forest back to looking more like themselves.
There is no need for Nuno to rip up the template (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
There is no need to tear up the plan and start again, even if the need for another attacking option to be added before the window closes now feels more apparent. Brentford’s Yoane Wissa was the subject of a rejected £22million bid from Forest last week.
This was the most un-Forest-like performance of the season.
The five goals Bournemouth scored represented 18.5 per cent of the 27 Forest have conceded in 23 games.
At half-time in their previous outing, against Southampton, Forest had been 3-0 up and they could have put more of a dent in the goal difference advantage held over them by Arsenal. But after conceding twice to ensure a nervy finale at the City Ground, they followed up by falling apart entirely against Bournemouth.
Instead of closing the gap on second-placed Arsenal, the goal difference deficit between them and Forest is 17.
Did it make it more painful that everything that had previously been Forest’s strength suddenly became their weakness at the Vitality Stadium?
“Yes, but it is not only today,” Nuno said in his post-match press conference. “It was the second half against Southampton as well. It is 7-0 against us in three halves of football. That is the reality. We have to take a deep look at how we did things, so we can not repeat it again.”
The most obvious explanation is that, on a basic level, too many players had an off day. Only Anthony Elanga and perhaps Neco Williams could claim they performed at close to their usual levels.
They were also up against a talented, ruthless Bournemouth side who punished Forest’s every mistake. The home team’s expected goals value for the match was 1.8. But, while Nuno was quick to praise their opponents for their performance, he will have been more troubled by what he saw from his side.
Central defensive pairing Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic and goalkeeper Matz Sels had provided the formidable foundations on which Forest had built their unexpected success this season.
Dango Ouattara’s hat-trick perfectly personified the nature of this game. The Bournemouth forward was exceptional, but all three goals involved defensive fragility.
The first-ever player from Burkina Faso to net a @premierleague hat-trick 😍🇧🇫 pic.twitter.com/DbDiv1fNkx
— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) January 25, 2025
The first saw him leap incredibly high to attack a cross from Justin Kluivert at the far post. What made it unusual was that Murillo, who was marking him, did not even get off the ground.
Nuno insisted fatigue and injury had not been an issue for his players, but Murillo did not look himself. Ouattara’s second came as he not only weaved a path around Murillo but also Milenkovic before finding the bottom corner. Normally, that just does not happen.
His third came after the normally rock-solid Sels failed to hold a driven shot from Marcus Tavernier, with Ouattara the quickest to react to convert the rebound.
The tone had been set by the first goal, from Kluivert, which saw the Forest defence back off until he found the bottom corner, unchallenged from the edge of the box.
This performance went against everything that has been good about Nuno’s Forest.
But that in itself should be a source of solace. Forest’s previous 5-0 defeat epitomised their malaise. This one serves as a wake-up call. If Forest want to continue their remarkable journey, they cannot let their standards slip, even for a moment.
(Top photo: Warren Little/Getty Images)
