Stats Highlight Nottingham Forest’s Struggles Under Ange Postecoglou

Nottingham Forest’s poor run under new head coach Ange Postecoglou is quickly becoming a cause for concern, with statistics showing just how badly results have gone since his arrival.

Appointed on 9 September, Postecoglou has now overseen five games without a win. His first home match ended in defeat to Sunderland on Saturday, despite Forest dominating the game.

The numbers tell the story:

• Forest have lost five of their past seven home Premier League matches (W1 D1). That equals the number of home defeats they suffered in their previous 22 games (W11 D6 L5).
• They have conceded the opening goal in 10 of their last 14 league games, compared to only six times in the 31 matches before. They did not win any of those 10 games (D3 L7).
• Against Sunderland, Forest recorded 64.9% possession, their highest figure since returning to the Premier League in 2022. Yet across the 26 matches in which they have had more than 50% of the ball, they have only won four (D12 L10).
• Their finishing has been especially poor. In the games against Burnley and Sunderland, Forest had a combined 39 attempts on goal but scored just once.

Postecoglou admitted after the Sunderland defeat that his side lack ruthlessness.

“We are just not ruthless enough turning the dominance we have into wins. It’s up to me to turn that dominance into victories,” he said.

The Australian coach, who was not an instant favourite among Forest supporters after replacing Nuno Espirito Santo, now faces mounting pressure. With only one point taken from two games against newly promoted teams, the statistics underline just how badly his tenure has started.