Nuno Espirito Santo is treating one of the several players Nottingham Forest acquired during the summer transfer window badly.
For Forest supporters, there’s never a dull moment while the transfer market is open. It seemed like a fairly methodical summer until the deadline day in August, when seven more faces were added.
This season, the Reds have struggled and haven’t exactly gotten off to a good start. A few acquisitions have performed better than others, and in Callum Hudson-Odoi’s case, Forest scored a steal.
Unfair treatment of Callum Hudson-Odoi by Espirito Santo
When it was revealed in the summer that Forest had only paid £3 million to get Hudson-Odoi from Chelsea, eyebrows were raised. Since the player was familiar with Steve Cooper, it seemed like a risk worth taking.
The player’s salary was, of course, the catch to the lower transfer cost. At Forest, Hudson-Odoi is the second-highest earner, taking home about £82,000 a week from the team.
Hudson-Odoi’s play at Forest truly took off after Espirito Santo entered the picture, despite the player’s prior familiarity with Cooper.
He received regular game time and was given a genuine opportunity to succeed. The winger scored goals against West Ham, Newcastle, and Bournemouth in three straight games.
However, Hudson-Odoi has found himself on the bench for the past two games. He only played eighteen minutes on Saturday against Luton and fifteen against Brighton.
Hudson-Odoi, who is 23 years old, is incredibly energetic and fast to respond. Anthony Elanga’s simultaneous entry onto the field gives Forest a burst of pace from both flanks.
With Hudson-Odoi, Forest can break out of their rut.
The three-cap England player battled for playing time under Xabi Alonso at Bayer Leverkusen while on loan before joining Forest.
When Hudson-Odoi signed, some cynical Forest fans may have felt a little let down. There were doubts and he suffered a catastrophic Achilles injury at Chelsea; he has never quite been the same.
But overall this season, Hudson-Odoi has tallied four goals and earned three assists for Forest. That’s a respectable return, and three of those goals came during a period when he was starting to gain confidence from playing frequently.
He has also made 33 successful dribbles this season, which is the second highest in the Forest team, according to Who Scored, demonstrating that he has the confidence to try and outpace his opponent.
We think it’s rather absurd that Espirito Santo benched him for two games against Brighton and Luton that were easily wins.
Now that the points deduction has been avoided, Forest needs to start winning games, and Hudson-Odoi can be a big asset in that regard.
Why Espirito Santo hasn’t selected Hudson-Odoi for the most recent Forest games is a mystery, and he has to bring the youngster back in the lineup following the international break.
