Vitor Pereira had been aware of Neco Williams’ corner-taking for Wales.
The Nottingham Forest head coach and his staff had watched footage of the 24-year-old’s deliveries for his country, and at the Nigel Doughty Academy, they tested those abilities in the build-up to Forest’s victory over Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
According to club sources, speaking anonymously to protect relationships, Williams impressed with the pace and precision of his set pieces. It was decided it could be a way to catch Tottenham off guard, with Elliot Anderson — the normal corner taker — free to occupy defenders.
As half-time approached at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the plan came to fruition, as Williams delivered a perfectly flighted ball to the far post, where Igor Jesus gave Forest the lead. It was only the seventh time Forest had scored from a set piece this season.
On a day when many Forest players impressed, Williams was among the key figures, as he has been during a season of chaos and struggle.
He will also have an important role to play for his country when Wales face Bosnia & Herzegovina in their World Cup play-off semi-final tonight.
Since joining from Liverpool in 2022, his steady upward trajectory may have gone under the radar to a wider audience, but to Forest supporters, his importance is well known.
Here, The Athletic tells his journey from academy prospect at Anfield to Forest stalwart and possible World Cup player.
Born in the village of Cefn Mawr, within Wrexham borough in north Wales, Williams had football in his blood with his father, Lee, a former player.
Playing for his local team, Cefn United, it was not unusual for Williams — then a striker — to score 10 goals in a game. Liverpool, Manchester United and Everton were all keen, but it was Liverpool where Williams felt at home.
He played through the age groups at Liverpool and in January 2018, having overcome six months on the sidelines with a stress fracture in his back, he played at Anfield, against Arsenal in the FA Youth Cup. The following season, Liverpool won the competition, with Williams scoring the first penalty in the shootout against Manchester City in the final.
His first-team debut came in October 2019, when he registered an assist in a dramatic Carabao Cup tie against Arsenal (they won on penalties after a 5-5 draw) and he was part of the Liverpool side that won the Club World Cup against Flamengo in Qatar in December 2019. On his return to the UK, Williams went back to Wales to celebrate with friends in the Legion pub.
At the age of 19, the academy graduate had made 20 senior appearances for Liverpool, also earning a Premier League winner’s medal, but his rise did not come without bumps in the road. During the 2020-21 campaign, Williams deleted his social media accounts because of abuse he received following an error made in a Carabao Cup win at Lincoln City.
His quality was not really the issue for him at Anfield — it was the abilities of the man in front of him in the pecking order, Trent Alexander-Arnold. Then-Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was an admirer of Williams, he was popular with the fans and there was a feeling that his time would come if and when Alexander-Arnold departed. However, that move did not come until Alexander-Arnold joined Real Madrid in 2025.
And while he had been seen as a barrier to Williams’ progression, there was also another bright prospect on the horizon, Conor Bradley, coming through the Liverpool ranks in the right-back position. So when interest arose in Williams in July 2022, it was he who left Anfield. He joined Forest, led by former Liverpool academy coach and manager Steve Cooper.
The relationship Cooper had built with Williams during his time working within the Liverpool youth setup was at the heart of Forest’s ability to persuade him to sign. The fee of £17million had put some potential suitors off — including Fulham, where he played 14 matches on loan. But Cooper persuaded the Forest hierarchy it would be a worthwhile investment.
Williams replaced Djed Spence, one of the heroes of Forest’s play-off push, who had been on loan from Middlesbrough. Spence’s relationship with Brennan Johnson down the right had been successful and there was disappointment when he joined Tottenham.
Johnson, who knew Williams from their time with Wales, talked his countryman into the move to Forest from Anfield in the Greek sunshine as the pair holidayed together in 2022. As for Cooper, he knew Williams was a quiet character, but he was also aware there was more to him. “The exciting thing about Neco is he loves the growth and learning,” Cooper said at the time.
This is Williams’ fourth season with Forest and his desire for improvement has paid off. He has evolved into a vital cog in the Forest machine.
The pace and directness of Williams and Ola Aina down either side were integral to Forest’s counter-attacking style under Cooper’s successor, Nuno Espirito Santo, as Forest finished seventh last season. It has remained the case throughout a chaotic campaign that has seen Ange Postecoglou, Sean Dyche and Pereira follow on from Nuno.
“Even under Dyche and Ange, he was one of the better players. You really don’t see the level of consistency he has in players,” former Forest and Newcastle defender James Perch tells The Athletic. “He was raw at first, but you could see how Nuno taught him how to defend.
“I don’t think he gets enough credit. He plays every minute, he is always fit. He should be spoken about in the same breath as (fellow Forest defender) Murillo, as Anderson, as every other full-back in the league.”
When Forest were seeking to appoint their fourth head coach of the campaign, they were attracted to Pereira because he shared some qualities with Nuno. He has an ability to bond with his players and to inspire a sense of unity: to deliver his message in a clear, concise manner on the training ground. And, like Nuno, Pereira seems to be capable of getting the best out of Williams.
Club sources say Pereira values Williams’ sense of responsibility. He is seen as having a level of tactical awareness and versatility that allow him to play in a back four or a back five, on either side of the pitch and as a central defender in a three.
Pereira and his staff have worked hard on the training ground to improve Williams’ ability with his left foot as, while he is a threat cutting inside onto his right — as demonstrated by the inch-perfect ball he delivered for Awoniyi’s goal against Spurs on Sunday (see below) — they want him to have the ability to do both.
His position on the left has not stopped him from attempting an average of 3.4 crosses per 90 minutes from open play, which is beaten only by Spurs’ Pedro Porro and Bournemouth’s Adrien Truffert among Premier League full-backs.
Similarly, only Arsenal’s Jurrien Timber can better his 5.1 combined expected goals and expected assists (xG+xA) among the division’s full-backs, while his 1.2 shots per 90 average ranks him third in the same group. He was unlucky not to score with a diving header at Tottenham.
Defensively, his 8.0 true tackles per 1,000 opposition touches — a combination of tackles won, tackles lost and fouls committed when attempting a tackle — ranks ninth of Premier League full-backs.
And the Forest coaching staff regard him as being good at finding a balance between the two.
“Neco is at the age now where he has masses of experience and knows when to pick and choose,” says Perch. “When he goes forward, he almost always takes the winger with him and the winger rarely gets past him.
“He seems to thrive facing good wingers. He did very well against Mohamed Salah. Not many full-backs can say they have thrived against him. I’d back Neco to do well against anyone.”
Williams may not go under the radar for long.