It was only last season that Eddie Howe spoke of his “high hopes” for Elliott Anderson, but when Newcastle visit Nottingham Forest this weekend, the young midfielder will be in the red of Garibaldi. He already looks like a smart signing.
Anderson, 22, featured in every game for Forest on Wednesday, winning the club’s player of the month award for August, filling in where required and flourishing of late. Twice a week he covered Morgan Gibbs-White’s absence in the No.10 role. Twice Forest won.
The performance against “Crystal Palace” was especially noticeable. At the start of that game, Anderson, once of the famous Wallsend Boys Club, seemed to be channeling Paul Gascoigne with his slalom runs, all elbows and enterprise.
It was a reminder of why Newcastle fast-tracked him to make his Arsenal first-team debut aged just 18. Anderson is more than just a hardworking player, there is something else about him. He has the mentality and the quality. Nuno Espirito Santo is excited.
“With Elliott, first of all, he’s an amazing talent for such a young player,” he says Sky Sports. “He’s competitive and wants to improve. He knows he’s good, but he wants to be better. That’s the first step. We are happy with him. I think it was a very good deal.”
Newcastle were forced to sell a popular young player, one of their own, for financial reasons. “It didn’t sit well with me, but we had no choice,” Howe said in July. With November upon us, that worry won’t go away with this form of evidence.
Nuno, who has guided Forest to 3rd place in the Premier League, their biggest performance so far this season, is managing Anderson’s workload. He has yet to play him a full game, preferring to rotate his options. But it helps it to be dynamic.
Anderson’s minutes by position for Nottingham Forest this season
Anderson ranks among the top ten Premier League players for assists, dribbles completed, team-mate attempts on goal and tackles won per 90 minutes;
His opportunities have come out wide and through the middle in a deeper role and more recently further forward. Nuno believes giving Anderson different responsibilities, encouraging him to develop his versatility, will help make him a better player.
“Since the preseason, Elliott has been playing different positions. He was wide, he played as a second midfielder and now he is playing as a 10 and he is learning from this experience.” Not everyone would adapt so easily, Nuno admits.
“I believe there are players where maybe it can be a problem because you change their position. But I believe Elliott is a player who can start in a variety of positions and still be able to play his own game. I think it makes. he’s better.”
That tendency to wander wherever Nuno chooses to deploy him brings some opportunities and complications for the Forest manager. When Anderson creates a load in one zone of the field, he frees up another. Finding ways to make it work is a challenge.
Nuno offers an example from Chelsea’s draw. The lineup showed Anderson on the left side. “Look back at that game, Morgan was making plays, but Elliott’s movement, the heat map, if you see it, wasn’t wide. He had the freedom to do so.”
He adds: “Because Elliott is a player who wants to touch the ball, wants to interact with it, wants to dictate plays, the challenge for us is to find how to complement that with the other midfielders. Because it can get to you. sometimes unbalanced.”
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FREE TO VIEW. Highlights from Nottingham Forest v West Ham
Nuno credits the tactical intelligence of Nicolas Dominguez and Ryan Yates in their ability to anticipate those moves. The Forest boss isn’t known for being particularly prepared for press conferences, but once he starts talking about tactics, it’s hard to stop.
In his office at The City Ground, he sketches out his vision by drawing patterns on a sofa. “We want our wingers to be more versatile, to play more inside, but that takes time. It’s all about dynamics. The game is not static. Sorting is just the beginning,” he says.
“After that, everything is so dynamic. It’s all about balance and space, giving freedom without being unbalanced. With the flow of the game, you get out of position a lot of times. Versatility means realizing that your actions are dictated by where you are. the playing field.”
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FREE TO WATCH. Highlights from Nottingham Forest’s win against Leicester
There were times when Forrest was sneaking up on Gibbs-White to make the play. What Nuno seems to be moving towards is a situation where each player can be trusted to make things happen depending on where they end up on the pitch.
“It’s completely different if you put the player in a position and say, ‘Now you’re free,'” he explains. What if the area is somewhere else? He talks about Anderson’s arrival giving Forest “a lot of ways to control the game” and is sure there is more to come from him.
Sunday, November 10 at 1:00 p.m
Start at 14:00
“Elliott has a good end pass that we have to take advantage of and I think it will improve.” Where Anderson’s development ends is unclear. Midfielder, 10, wide forward. Clearly, his manager has no intention of sticking him in one position.
“I think he is ready to develop in any position because he has all these qualities. You can’t put him down because you lose this offensive part that he gives. He’s just a very good player.” Howe and Newcastle may soon get a reminder of that.
Watch Nottingham Forest v Newcastle live on Sky Sports Premier League from 1pm on Sunday; start at 14:00
