If Steve Cooper needs a result against Wolves to secure his position then he is likely to lean once more on his most creative player. Morgan Gibbs-White returns to Molineux for a game where the stakes are high and his own form will also be in the spotlight.
Gibbs-White was Nottingham Forest’s player of the year last season, a revelation following his move from Wolves. It was not just his skill that illuminated the club’s return to the Premier League but his imagination and his personality in seizing centre-stage.
Having become disillusioned at his boyhood club, Cooper made him feel important. The pair had won a World Cup together at U17 level and this was a coach who had previously trusted him at Swansea. Gibbs-White was empowered and he responded.
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Nottingham Forest’s Steve Cooper vows to fight on despite run of four straight defeats
With eight assists, he ranked among the top 12 providers of goals in the Premier League last season, also in that group for expected assists and through balls. The difference is that every other player among that top dozen played for the top dozen clubs too.
Gibbs-White was doing it in a team fighting to avoid relegation. As a result, he was arguably taking on a greater creative responsibility for his side than anyone else. Speaking to his manager about that in his office earlier this season, he had a theory.
“I think everybody needs to be believed in,” Cooper told Sky Sports.
“Everybody needs to feel like they have value and are playing a part, and he has that here. I just think what we have been able to give him is a run of games. He has had a full season in the Premier League now and he will be better for that. That is what young players need.”
And yet, this season has not seen Gibbs-White take that projected leap forward. Against Fulham, where Forest were beaten 5-0 on Wednesday, he dropped to the bench. Even now, in troubled times, the fortunes of player and manager appear intertwined.
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from Fulham’s 5-0 thrashing of Nottingham Forest
One goal and two assists represents a meagre return for the team’s chief playmaker. There is no doubt that Gibbs-White is missing the presence of Brennan Johnson and, more recently, the injured Taiwo Awoniyi, but that only makes his role more important.
Instead, with Forest struggling, the perception of those trademark flicks and tricks has begun to shift. Gibbs-White is a risk taker in possession and being a little loose with the ball can be a problem for Forest because it means that they struggle to retain it.
Second Spectrum data highlights the type of choices that Gibbs-White is making with the ball at his feet. They use tracking data to calculate the expected completion rate of each pass based on the position of players on the pitch. Gibbs-White’s is just 70.8 per cent.
Of players to have attempted at least 400 this season, only Bryan Mbeumo is trying harder passes. The company that Gibbs-White is keeping is impressive. Also towards the top of the list Mohamed Salah, Lucas Paqueta and Bruno Fernandes. Creative players.
Putting this to Cooper, he said: “I do not see that as a negative. If it is then blame me. Because the moment he stops taking risks, the moment he stops being creative, the moment he stops trying things, that is the moment when I will get angry with him.”
He added: “I do not want him to be boring. I do not want him to be too safe in his decisions. Yes, I want him to make decisions for the team. Yes, I want him to do what is right for the team. But he has an ability to make a difference, so make the difference.”
It is rare to see those passes let alone execute them. “Making the difference is one of the hardest things to do. And when something is hard you will not always succeed, you will make mistakes. I would be more concerned if he were at the other end of the scale.”
The challenge for Gibbs-White is that the pictures ahead of him have changed a little. Johnson’s speed was a wonderful outlet, creating a margin for error with those passes in behind. Chris Wood, for example, requires a very different type of service into him.
Put simply, the options are not there for him. Again, the Second Spectrum data shows this. Only Mbeumo averages fewer passing options. For a player who habitually wants to play progressive passes, it is a big issue. Perhaps the passes are just no longer on.
Morgan Gibbs-White has among the fewest passing options of any Premier League player
Gibbs-White is still trying to thread the needle but he is being asked to do so from the right wing due to the imbalanced make-up of the Forest squad. The temptation is to restore him to a No 10 role but the options for Cooper infield are better than those out wide.
It leaves Gibbs-White in an awkward position where he has defensive responsibilities on the flank, otherwise he risks leaving his full-back exposed, but there is also an onus on him to pick up those pockets of space inside from where he can make things happen.
Morgan Gibbs-White’s heatmap and passing sonar for Nottingham Forest this season
Cooper believes that he can do it. “His work ethic and his commitment to the team is unbelievable. He does both sides of the game. He is an attacking player who I trust on the other side of the game as well. I think he carries that responsibility well.”
He added: “From one angle we are looking at him to make the difference with the final pass and we push him on that. But I also know that if he needs to track back, if he needs to fill in, if he needs to set the tone with his pressing, he respects that side of the game.”
Gibbs-White turns 24 next month. He is seen as a young talent, a future England international, but is fast approaching his peak years. “He is in the leadership group. He has been voted in by the players, not by me, so that tells you something,” said Cooper.
“That is good for him because it gives him more of a voice, more of an understanding of what goes on in a dressing room and the connection between staff and players. Sometimes players learn that when they are older but he is being exposed to that at a young age.”
Now is the time to show that leadership, to take that next step. Cooper talks of the defensive improvement being “part of his growth over the last 12 months that will help him in the longer term” and of him having more chances to create as the team improves.
“In time, we could become a bit more like what we would like to be and he will have more opportunities to make a difference.” If it is to happen under the manager who has mentored him this far, it may need to happen very soon. At Molineux on Saturday, to be precise.