Paul Merson believes that Ange Postecoglou can fix one of Nuno's big mistakes at Nottingham Forest

Stylistically, Ange Postecoglou brings completely different strengths to Nottingham Forest than Nuno Espírito Santo did, something that Paul Merson thinks will work to the Reds’ advantage.

Espírito Santo’s dismissal didn’t come as a surprise to the City Ground faithful, after weeks of tension that was being played out in public.

In fact, Postecoglou replacing the Portuguese manager wasn’t surprising either, given Evangelos Marinakis’ admiration for Postecoglou was no secret.

It’s hard to compare the two in terms of their tactical styles, but Merson has spoken on Sky Sports about one issue in Espírito Santo’s tactical style that Postecoglou will be able to fix.

Ange Postecoglou can fix Nuno Espírito Santo’s possession issue

Last season saw Forest surprise the rest of the Premier League by finishing seventh, with a counterattacking style that teams found it difficult to adapt to.

However, it became clear towards the end of the season that Nuno’s system was beginning to struggle, something that Merson believes Postecoglou can fix after taking his place.

He said on Sky Sports: “They’ve got a lot of talent in their team and you don’t want that much talent on the football pitch and not have the ball for more than 50% of the play.

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“They should be dictating football matches, having 60-65% of the game with the quality of player they’ve got, so I think that’s why he’s been appointed, to get the top players on the ball.

“Last season they sat back and counterattacked, probably having 30% of possession. That’s not enough for the amount of quality players on the pitch so I think Ange will change that.”

On paper, Merson may be right as Postecoglou should be able to get more out of Forest’s flair players. However, it’s worth noting that Espírito Santo was able to expose the Australian last season when the Reds faced Tottenham.

Nuno got the better of Ange Postecoglou last season

While Forest were flying, Postecoglou’s Tottenham were in the midst of a club-worst Premier League campaign that eventually saw the North London side finish 17th.

The two sides met on Boxing Day in the middle of what would be a seven-game winning run for Nuno’s side, with the two managers’ opposing styles on display.

Postecoglou’s Tottenham dominated the ball at the City Ground but Nuno’s Reds had a higher xG. From the clearances stat, it’s clear that Forest simply let Spurs come forward to then clear the danger with ease for an extended period after Anthony Elanga scored in the first half.

Merson may be proven right about Postecoglou’s ability to get more from Forest’s stars, but it’s clear that Nuno’s style of play was able to exploit the new Reds boss.

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