James McAtee: How Oliver Glasner has transformed Nottingham Forest midfielder from forgotten man to his new Adam Wharton | Football News

When Oliver Glasner moved to Nottingham Forest after departing Crystal Palace, he tasked himself with replicating the 3-4-2-1 system that worked so well at Selhurst Park.

A key part of that set-up are the two central midfielders. “We call them the quarterbacks,” said Glasner last season and at Palace. The Austrian had the perfect quarterback in Adam Wharton. Defensively astute but also influential and creative in attack.

As well as finding the Forest version of Wharton, he also had to replace the Man City-bound Elliot Anderson – heartbeat of the team – in that same area of the pitch.

But nobody expected the solution to both these problems to be James McAtee.

Just a few months ago, McAtee was a forgotten man at Forest. Following his £30m move from Man City, he started just two Premier League games last term. All four Forest managers never gave him a real chance.

Glasner has found a role for him at the City Ground – but it has needed a change in position to do it. McAtee, who came through the ranks with City and England as an attacking No 10, has been told to play much, much deeper in this Glasner team.

It is a major change from what McAtee is used to. But even the great Pep Guardiola noticed how good he is in tighter spaces.

“Pep always references how good he is in pockets,” said Brian Barry-Murphy to Sky Sports in 2024. Barry-Murphy was one of McAtee’s coaches in the Manchester City academy set-up, and is now in charge at Cardiff City.

“What’s the most significant thing about James McAtee?” he adds. “The tighter the spaces, the more at home and comfortable he is. He’s a very specific player in that role.”

And being a small, left-footed talent operating in those tight spaces, McAtee is acting as a pretty good tribute act to Wharton in this new Glasner system.

A key part of Wharton’s game is those punchy passes through the lines that open up defences. In the opening weeks of the season, McAtee has been seen doing exactly the same thing – and the results have been excellent.

In the first five games of this Premier League campaign, McAtee has been one of the Premier League’s most creative players. Only five players have created more chances this term than the 23-year-old and only three better his creativity from open play.

In terms of passes leading to a shot – balls that eventually bring about an effort on goal within two or three passes – McAtee ranks second in the Premier League, sitting level with Bruno Fernandes, who was the most creative player in the top-flight last term.

Only his Forest team-mate Morgan Gibbs-White has managed more passes leading to a shot than McAtee this season. While Gibbs-White is Forest’s talisman, it could be argued that McAtee has the more important role in the team.

Remember, he is in the Wharton role. He is the quarterback.

“They are responsible for the speed of our attacks, if we go forward or keep possession,” added Glasner last season about the role.

McAtee is the midfielder who controls the play. Those punchy passes that Wharton and McAtee both make are vital and crucial to Glasner’s direct style.

Like at Palace last season, Forest are not interested in passing the ball around. It is a vertical, efficient style that the Austrian manager likes, rather than a patient philosophy.

It is best noticed by the statistic that only four of Forest’s attacks this season have been ‘build-up attacks’. Put more simply, when they get the ball, they play it forward as quickly as they can. They have the fourth-best record for forward passing percentage this season, while they sit third for the number of through balls completed.

McAtee is at the heart of that style of play. Wharton also dictates that style for Palace. That quickfire ability to generate chances and push the ball forward is why the Eagles midfielder is so highly rated.

So when Glasner makes his much-anticipated return to Crystal Palace, this time in the Forest dugout, there is more than just a simple storyline at play.

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This is not just the tale of Glasner returning to the club where he brought unprecedented success to generations of Palace fans. This is not just the narrative of Glasner turning up at Selhurst Park representing the team who replaced them in last season’s Europa League.

This is also Glasner’s new project coming up against his old one. And in Wharton lining up in midfield up against McAtee, there is a specific battle of ‘old vs new’ at play here.

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