No England calls but Forest's rapid rise and 'globalisation' shows strength of squad

In March 2021, Nottingham Forest had six players called up for international duty — a respectable number for a team plying their trade in the Championship.

Full credit to anyone who can name them all without using the internet.

Brennan Johnson (Wales), Scott McKenna (Scotland) and Cyrus Christie (Ireland) might be the easiest to recall, but others travelled far and wide. Fouad Bachirou represented the Comoros — a group of islands that sit between Tanzania and Madagascar. Lyle Taylor played for Montserrat — a beautiful Caribbean Island with a population of just 4,000 that is regularly troubled by volcanic eruptions. And Nikolas Ioannou joined up with Cyprus.

The three countries respectively sit 103rd, 181st and 130th in the FIFA rankings, sitting below footballing powerhouses such as Curacao (91st), Luxembourg (93rd) and Benin (94th).

But four years on, the selection of Forest players who will be on international duty in the next few weeks is symbolic of the club’s growth.

Thomas Tuchel may have delivered a surprise snub to Morgan Gibbs-White, while also overlooking Elliot Anderson and Callum Hudson-Odoi. Only the German will know how he can justify overlooking three of the best-performing players in the Premier League in favour of picking four goalkeepers and a clutch of other players who have been struggling for form.

Last September, Gibbs-White became the first Forest player since Stuart Pearce, in 1997, to represent England. Since then, his influence at Forest has only grown; his performance levels have reached fresh heights.

But beyond the fact there was no room in Tuchel’s first squad for anyone from the team sitting third in the Premier League, the group of players who have been called up by their countries still says a great deal about the quality in the Forest dressing room.

Nuno Espirito Santo expected to be without as many as 14 of his players, it will actually be a few less than that but still enough to put together a half-decent team.

Anderson, who rejected Scotland’s advances in the hope of earning an England chance, will join up with Lee Carsley’s England Under-21 side for their games against France and Portugal.

Hudson-Odoi, who had also been spoken about as a candidate for a potential call-up, will remain part of Forest’s training group. Perhaps his previous relationship with Tuchel — who allowed him to join Bayer Leverkusen in August 2022 when he was Chelsea manager — will mean the London-born player has to be patient for another England chance.

Hudson-Odoi played under Tuchel at Chelsea (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

It feels as though we were not too far away from a return to the days when Stuart Pearce, Des Walker, Steve Hodge and Neil Webb were all regulars for their country. Maybe that will be more of a possibility by the time England face Senegal at the City Ground on June 10 if Forest can finish the season on a high by securing Champions League football.

“We as a club, every time our player goes to a national side, we are proud. That is one of their goals as an individual and that makes them perform better for us. It’s a cycle, we are very proud. Not only of the English players, there could be 14 players going away,” Nuno said in his press conference ahead of the game at Ipswich.

In the dressing room, the prospect of playing on the international stage has been a source of motivation.

“I just make sure that I’m doing it on the pitch for the club. If you do that, you never know what will happen internationally,” said Hudson-Odoi in an interview with journalists after the win over Manchester City, which was witnessed by England assistant coach Anthony Barry. Tuchel himself had previously watched the win over Ipswich.

“Because they’re here, that’s showing that we’re doing something right, to be in that sort of talks or contention. We just need to keep believing in ourselves. Hopefully, the boys get the picks (for England). It would be amazing,” added Hudson-Odoi.

Former Forest defender Michael Dawson believes the pass Gibbs-White hit to send Hudson-Odoi racing into space against Manchester City — from which he ultimately scored the winning goal — underlined what he brings to the team perfectly.

“I like the work rate of the whole team. They are obviously brilliant when they have the chance to break with the ball, but they do just as much work out of possession,” says Dawson, who won four England caps between 2010 and 2011 while playing for Tottenham. “The quality of Morgan is key to it all, however. The ball he played for Callum against Manchester City was superb.

“Seeing him do that was not a surprise because he has that ability, but when you are competing at the top end of the table, moments like that get more recognition. They get talked about more. Forest are becoming an established Premier League team now, in their third year. They are in the quarter-final of the FA Cup and their performance against City was magnificent.”

Gibbs-White has registered five goals and six assists for Forest and regularly captains the side when Ryan Yates does not play, but Anderson has also established himself as a key figure in midfield after joining from Newcastle in a £15million move in the summer.

(Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)

“I was surprised by him, but mainly because of the position he has played. When he played for Newcastle, I saw him mainly play in a role wide on the left,” says Dawson. “But his work rate, his decision making… the way he gets up and down the pitch. He has played in a central role and I have been very, very impressed. For him to even be talked about for England is a huge credit to him and a sign of how well he has done because 12 months ago, he was not a regular in the Premier League.”

Forest’s trio will have to wait for their England opportunity.

But Murillo has been called up by Brazil for the second time and there is a belief at Forest that he will this time win his first cap for his country in the World Cup qualifiers against Colombia and Argentina. There is a certain gravitas to being able to say that your team has a Brazil international within it.

Nikola Milenkovic will captain Serbia in their two-legged Nations League play-off against Austria. Matz Sels has a good chance of being in goal for Belgium for their Nations League play-off with Ukraine. Ibrahim Sangare and Willy Boly have both already been selected by the Ivory Coast as they look to build on lifting the African Cup of Nations title on home soil in 2023.

Previous international breaks would normally provide a useful opportunity for Forest managers to work intensively on the training ground. For Nuno, the challenge might be how to shape training sessions with half of his squad missing.

“It is a sign of the progress, it is a sign of the evolution and a sign of our globalisation as a club,” said Nuno. “We will bring in some of the young boys (for training). It is a good chance for them. We always do that. It is a good chance for us to see who is coming through.”

The Forest head coach could be left with only ten or 11 senior players to work with after they face Ipswich at Portman Road on Saturday — and that group will include two goalkeepers, in Wayne Hennessey and Carlos Miguel, who has been fighting injury.

That is a huge positive as a reflection of the quality of players Forest have. They represent the fifth (Brazil), sixth (Portugal) and eighth-ranked (Belgium) sides in the FIFA standings and other players could earn a call-up in the future.

Nico Dominguez has 11 caps with Argentina and, while the last of those came in 2021, his recent performances indicate a return to the squad might be possible. Danilo’s progress has been set back a little by the broken ankle he suffered on the opening day of the campaign, but he has the quality to put himself on the Brazil radar.

Ryan Yates has built a career on proving his doubters wrong at every level of the game — having played in all four divisions. Do not put it past him to do so again.

From being in the bottom three in the Championship in 2021 to challenging for a Champions League place now, while having a clutch of players away on international duty and more at least in the conversation for an England place. It’s a long way from the Comoros and Montserrat.

(Top photo: Nikola Milenkovic, left; by Nikola/Krstic/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)