Oliver Glasner faced the media for the first time as Nottingham Forest boss on Thursday 16 July.
From formation to players that have caught his eye, here are a few lines that might be of interest to Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers…
On playing with a back three versus a back four…
“For me, the discussion is too often about the system. It doesn’t matter if you play a back three, a back four, a back two or even a back six. That’s not important. The habits are important, the patterns, how you want to attack, how you want to defend, how you want to deal with each other.
“I told the players – I’m very honest all the time – I don’t know right now if we will play a back four or a back three. It’s now [the time] to get the players to know where they feel comfortable. What I want is that every single player plays in his best position because that’s my conviction.”
On his squad + players on the injury list…
“I find many, many talented players with great skill. When I see, for example, in these two sessions, when I see Omari Hutchinson, his dribbling, his left-foot finish. He played his first year in the Premier League with Ipswich, unfortunately getting relegated. He played his second year now, as a, let’s say, half-half starter, having a few goals, a few assists, but I think he has a lot of potential still, and this is what we want to help him [with] – to be more consistent, delivering more consistently on the pitch, because then he helps to win us games.
“When I see how the injured players, still injured players, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Murillo, Savona, how hard they work to get back into team training, this gives me confidence because we will need them.
“When I see James McAtee, what quality he has, then I think [why] he didn’t play so often. So, it’s now to support him, getting this into the team [so] that he can help winning games.
“Of course, I don’t need to talk about Morgan Gibbs-White, about Yates, the other leaders in the team. How they speak, how hard they work; they are pushing. When you see Nikola Milenkovic, his personality in the back helps Morato and Cunha next to him when they play.
“Neco Williams returned today. I spoke to him, he had to come in earlier. So, he was usually given off until Monday; I asked him, so he will play against Notts County on Saturday as well. And I now forgot definitely all the others!”
On whether he’ll need to buy players to get the type of squad he was comfortable with at Palace…
“No, again, we don’t want to make a ‘Palace 2’ here. Like at Palace, we didn’t make a ‘Frankfurt 2’, and at Frankfurt, we didn’t make a ‘Wolfsburg 2’. I could go back to my further clubs. It’s now, again, getting the best out of every single player and adding them to a great team together. That’s what we are looking for.
“I think now, after the World Cup, the transfer window will start more and more. It already started. The transfer fees that get paid, it’s really crazy sometimes, but it seems the market is like this. On the other side, you sell players for a lot of money. Nottingham had the profit from selling Elliot Anderson to Manchester City and now we want to replace him. Now here we are looking at where we can strengthen the squad with the profiles we defined. Now, to get these deals over the goal line.” – Oliver Glasner
- READ MORE: Iraola’s first Liverpool presser: Post-World Cup breaks + large squad
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