Stats show why Oliver Glasner demanded Nottingham Forest 'change' after defeat

One of the key points made by head coach Oliver Glasner in his furious post-match rant at the weekend concerned Nottingham Forest’s running stats.

Glasner laid into his players after Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to Brentford and pledged to implement changes in a bid to improve the Reds’ fortunes. They have won just one of their nine Premier League games this term and are 19th in the table.

Being embroiled in another relegation fight was not what Forest had in mind when they appointed Glasner in July. If results do not improve soon, though, another season of struggle could be on the cards.

Glasner has a number of issues he needs to address to oversee a turnaround, not least the Reds’ goalscoring woes and poor City Ground form. The Austrian also wants to see an upturn in another important metric.

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“It's not a lack of effort, but there are a few things very obvious,” Glasner said last weekend. “We are outrun by the opposition in every single game. We have to change it. And if you can't change it, we need a different person.

“And if the club doesn't want to change it, they need a different manager. I'm desperate to change it. Desperate.”

Forest’s running stats from previous seasons are understood to have been cause for concern for Glasner back in the summer. As he looked to implement a high-pressing, high-intensity style, adjustments were going to be required - and factoring in how the players would cope was always likely to make that a gradual process.

According to the Premier League, the Reds rank 11th in the division this season for distance covered in matches. Their total distance covered is put at 1023.765 kilometres and their distance per 90 minutes comes in at 104.05km.

By comparison, Fotmob’s data from last season has Forest covering 111.8km per match when measured across the entire campaign. They were ranked 18th in the league on that aspect, ahead of Chelsea (109.7km) and Liverpool (111.7km).

Fulham - 1074.803km (110.99km/per 90)

Arsenal - 1074.802 (108.67)

Ipswich Town - 1056.185 (106.24)

Brentford - 1056.157 (106.47)

Leeds United - 1050.158 (108.58)

Bournemouth - 1049.280 (106.32)

Brighton and Hove Albion - 1043.233 (106.75)

Newcastle United - 1037.693 (105.08)

Hull City - 1033.770 (105.83)

Sunderland - 1023.898 (102.77)

Nottingham Forest - 1023.765 (104.05)

Everton - 1023.065 (102.39)

Tottenham Hotspur - 1021.618 (104.25)

Crystal Palace - 1019.712 (103.89)

Chelsea - 1018.896 (102.71)

Aston Villa - 1018.607 (102.13)

Coventry City - 1017.258 (103.92)

Manchester City - 1013.470 (103.86)

Manchester United - 1006.102 (102.14)

Liverpool 1000.512 (101.74)

No Forest player is included in the top 10 list for most distance covered in the league this season. Likewise, the club do not have an entry in the top 10 players for total distance run in a single match.

In terms of number of sprints made this term, Forest rank 16th in the division with 945. According to the Premier League, they have made 96.05 sprints per 90 minutes.

Liverpool are top for number of sprints with 1,164, ahead of Bournemouth on 1,107. The Reds are ahead of Crystal Palace (872), Coventry City (877), Manchester City (889) and Everton (900).

Winger Dan Ndoye has recorded the fastest speed of any Forest player this season, coming in at 34.07 km/h during the opening-day loss to Leeds United. The Switzerland international’s burst is some way off Newcastle United’s Harvey Barnes, who takes the title of fastest player in the Premier League so far this term with the 36.21 he clocked against Aston Villa last month.

Of course, turning the tide at Forest is unlikely to be as simple as running and sprinting more. After all, in 2024/25, when the club finished seventh, the BBC noted the Reds both ran and sprinted the least out of every team in the division - although it could be argued that style of play was unsustainable, as evidenced by a drop-off in results in the latter stages of the campaign.

Glasner clearly sees covering ground as an area where his team need to up the ante, though. Perhaps it was why he had his squad jogging through a muddy field on Sunday as their usual recovery session the day after a game took on a decidedly different feel.

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