“This guy plays ping-pong not to enjoy it but to win,” Nuno Espirito Santo tells Sky Sports activities. “And if he loses, he just wants another chance to beat you. He is so obsessed. His mindset is like that. He is a very competitive person. This is his character.”
The Nottingham Forest supervisor is discussing Nikola Milenkovic in an workplace on the Metropolis Floor within the data that Sky Sports activities will quickly be talking to the Serbian defender over on the membership’s coaching floor. Placing the story to Milenkovic a bit of later, he simply smiles.
“Yes, I am a little bit competitive,” he acknowledges. “Of course, I like to win. Everything I do I like to win.” He cites the instance of the legendary basketball participant Nikola Jovic. “The Serbian people do not play for enjoyment. They want to play to win.”
Milenkovic is successful loads with Forest in the intervening time, a crew remodeled since his arrival from Fiorentina in the summertime. They now boast the second-best defensive document within the Premier League and will transfer fifth within the desk with a win at Leicester on Friday.
One thing needed to change. Forest had extra 3-2 defeats than clear sheets final season. And whereas Nuno insists that this can be a crew effort, a product of perspiration in pre-season, no one underestimates the impression of the 6’5″ centre-back now main their defence.
Defending corners had been a problem. This season, they’ve but to concede from 51 of them. Milenkovic ranks second for aerial duels gained per 90 minutes by defenders – second solely to Virgil van Dijk. “I work on it, to take up positions, to jump,” he explains.
“I am almost two metres high, so it must be one of my qualities to win aerial duels. Set-pieces, I think, are just about focus and concentration.” Ever the perfectionist, he pauses the interview to search out the precise phrase in English. “The desire not to concede,” he provides.
“It’s not just about our back four and goalkeeper. It is about the whole team, how the team sacrifices for each other. Our team has a good team spirit. Our team has a good mentality, a willingness to do that one extra run, to help each other on the pitch.”
Nikola Milenkovic’s defensive motion areas for Nottingham Forest
Nuno agrees that the development is psychological as a lot as bodily. He sees Milenkovic as a catalyst. “He is contagious to be around. This is what makes him so valuable for us, his character. He brought us stability, leadership, aggressiveness,” says the Forest boss.
“Defending requires the physical part also but it is a lot about mentality. You have to be relentless. Attackers have a different mindset. One mistake does not mean too much. Back there, it needs 100 per cent focus. Every minute, every action. Nikola has that.”
It displays his expertise. Milenkovic is 27, a veteran of two World Cups and somebody with seven seasons in Serie A behind him. The pattern is in direction of splurging on potential however Forest have acquired the completed article for round £12m. “Good business,” says Nuno.
Italy was as soon as the house of nice defending. It stays fertile floor. “Serie A is more tactical,” Milenkovic explains. “The Premier League is more intense, more physical. Here, football is faster. The referees do not whistle so many fouls, they let you play.”
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from Nottingham Forest’s win over Crystal Palace
Milenkovic was simply a young person when he moved to Florence, signing off with Partizan Belgrade by scoring the winner within the cup ultimate in opposition to Crimson Star to clinch the double. He recollects the affect of Franck Ribery, a team-mate for 2 seasons at Fiorentina.
“It was a pleasure to play with him. He is a really, really great person, a great champion. He has a culture of incredible work, a really professional player. He helped us young players a lot. He always gave advice so we could learn a lot from him.”
Did he ever kick the outdated maestro? “He always trained 100 per cent, so sometimes maybe.” A extra pure icon of the sport for him to be impressed by was his compatriot Nemanja Vidic, the form of dedicated determine on which a defender’s recreation could possibly be moulded.
Manchester United’s Nemanja Vidic was an inspiration to the younger Nikola Milenkovic
“When I was young I watched a lot of games of Nemanja,” says Milenkovic. “Of course, he is our best defender ever in Serbia. I grew up with him. I also watched all the video clips on YouTube. I learned a lot from watching him. I enjoyed the way he played.”
Simply as Vidic had Rio Ferdinand, Milenkovic has a defensive foil of his personal, the joyous Murillo together with his long-range free-kicks and equally bold passes. The younger Brazilian is benefiting from a steadying affect alongside him. They’re two very totally different defenders.
Murillo is left-footed. Milenkovic prefers his proper. Murillo’s supposed weaknesses is his peak. Milenkovic is a monster. Nuno readily admits that the presence of 1 impacted the pondering in bringing within the different. “More than anything, it was the profile,” says Nuno.
“They complement each other. I really believe in that. Two centre-halves have to work as one. They cannot ignore the distance between them. It has to be really, really, really tight sometimes. The covering, the communication. And they have been doing really well.”
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Will we see Milenkovic firing off a number of goal-bound free-kicks of his personal? “Maybe. We will see.” However there have been 17 targets for Fiorentina and whereas he names the win over Liverpool as his favorite second to this point, there was additionally his help for Chris Wooden away to Chelsea.
“With my almost two metres, I need to be dangerous in the opponent’s box. Of course, I have to do more than this. I can do more than this. And I will do everything.” And by some means, you simply don’t doubt that he completely means it. Nikola Milenkovic performs to win.
Watch Leicester vs Nottingham Forest reside on Friday Evening Soccer from 7pm; kick-off 8pm
