Nottingham Forest boss Nuno ramps up mind games on Arne Slot ahead of unlikely title clash
Liverpool travel to the City Ground on Tuesday night to take on their unlikely title challengers - and Nottingham Forest boss Nuno has sounded a warning to the leaders
by Neil Moxley · The MirrorNuno Espirito Santo reminded Arne Slot money isn’t everything as the mind games ramped up ahead of Tuesday night’s City Ground showdown.
The Portuguese boss responded to his opposite number at Anfield after the Dutchman suggested Nottingham Forest’s lofty Premier League position was not unexpected given the investment in their playing squad.
Slot said: “Nuno is doing an incredible job, but if you look at the amount of money they (have) spent it is not a complete surprise that they do well this season.”
Forest will be three points behind the leaders should they win - with Slot suggesting they are very much in the title race.
Asked about Slot’s comments, Nuno replied: “I don’t know the spending, the value. It doesn’t matter. I look at the player as a human being and ask: ‘How can I make you better?’ Money doesn’t play football. People do. I’m not concerned about the price tag of things.”
A survey by website transfermarkt.com suggests that in terms of the outlay spent per point won, Forest are top, leading Fulham in second with Liverpool halfway in the rankings.
After two seasons spent battling the drop, the east Midlands club has so far confounded expectations. And Nuno says there is more to come from his group in the second part of the campaign.
He said: “No one could have predicted what’s happening now. It’s the ambition, the desire to do things well, hard work and commitment of the players that have made it possible.
"And I see a group committed to doing things well. The proof of that is that we did it before. We’re improving through the competition.
“We are better now. We do things better and control the momentum of games better. We are progressing. I truly believe in the habits, routines and knowledge of these players.
“We have a bond, and that bond has to do with knowledge and realising how a team-mate does things so you can help him and do things together. And that is getting stronger.”
Forest became the only team to defeat Slot at home this year - either with the Reds or his previous club, Feyenoord - when they won 1-0 at Anfield in September thanks to Callum Hudson-Odoi’s goal.
Nuno’s side is on the back of six straight victories, and expectation levels are rising fast. The club’s manager welcomed the additional attention, saying: “Pressure will be on every player that is involved in the game.
"I want our players to feel pressure - because pressure makes you alert. When you want to compete you have to feel pressure and desire. Our players are under pressure. We have achieved that responsibility.
“But our message is the same. We have achieved nothing yet. We will work to see what’s possible.”
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