Nuno Espírito Santo

[Bazali]

Sorry. Wrong thread.

 

[thinktank]

 

[thinktank]

 

[Dr Rocktopus]

I just don't know how you can be a manager and not swap Gil and Bergwijn over at any point in that game.

Mind-blowing.

He's a P. E teacher at best.

 

[SymphonyFormation]

I haven't got a problem with full rotation, in fact I'd be worried if we felt we couldn't and so didn't. It is also not all on the manager that individuals performed so miserably and didn't try and stake a claim.

Where I have got an issue though, is that despite the above we did also see a total lack of the coaching and tactical ethos. Doing what we did tonight - going with the wider squad players and youngsters - and not having the individual star power means you will have to fall back more on your foundations and what has been drilled into them in terms of principles of play, so that the scratch side already has a blueprint of what it is to do and becomes equal/greater to the sum of its parts. But with and without the ball I (again) didn't see much of anything - with the ball it was basic, confused, and individualistic. No patterns of play or interlinking etc. Without the ball yet again we were a total mess, far too easy to play through with little in the way of a press or compactness.

Currently we're seeing that we maybe have found a way to play in the league that with the talent of Kane and Son, the moments of Ndombele, the hustle and bustle of Hojbjerg, Skipp, Reguilon, etc we've got just about enough about us .... but even then many of the aspects of our play look shaky as fuck and ultimately to achieve anything proper as a team you can't just rely on your best individuals rising above it and doing the biz all the time. I want to see more of a coached ethos coming together in what we do in the coming weeks, whatever side we select and whatever the result.

 

[enfield1985]

I haven't got a problem with full rotation, in fact I'd be worried if we felt we couldn't and so didn't. It is also not all on the manager that individuals performed so miserably and didn't try and stake a claim.

Where I have got an issue though, is that despite the above we did also see a total lack of the coaching and tactical ethos. Doing what we did tonight - going with the wider squad players and youngsters - and not having the individual star power means you will have to fall back more on your foundations and what has been drilled into them in terms of principles of play, so that the scratch side already has a blueprint of what it is to do and becomes equal/greater to the sum of its parts. But with and without the ball I (again) didn't see much of anything - with the ball it was basic, confused, and individualistic. No patterns of play or interlinking etc. Without the ball yet again we were a total mess, far too easy to play through with little in the way of a press or compactness.

Currently we're seeing that we maybe have found a way to play in the league that with the talent of Kane and Son, the moments of Ndombele, the hustle and bustle of Hojbjerg, Skipp, Reguilon, etc we've got just about enough about us .... but even then many of the aspects of our play look shaky as fuck and ultimately to achieve anything proper as a team you can't just rely on your best individuals rising above it and doing the biz all the time. I want to see more of a coached ethos coming together in what we do in the coming weeks, whatever side we select and whatever the result.

He has no clue. His tactics have always relied on solid defence and quick counters. He is Mourinho lite just with none of the charisma, the trophies or the arrogance.

 

[Nabil Bentaleb]

He’s just not good enough. If you don’t think Klopp or even Poch wouldn’t go to vitesse with our second team and not battered them? The difference between a great manager and an average manager is that the great manager will always no matter the players have a style and a way of doing things, an average manager wins some loses some and when he wins it’s usually with the best players playing. If losing away to Europe small teams without Kane and son it’s what we’ve become we are doomed.

 

[sammyspurs]

So people hated Jose for hanging out the players and now mock Nuno for defending them

 

[Murphy]

I've got no issues in principle with the team yesterday, it was mostly internationals and players that should be fighting for their place. My frustration is not taking stronger players for the bench, in case they were needed.

Unless the aim is to throw this competition, which although a horrid inconvenience is a travesty. We are trophyless and should be trying to win matches. All matches, regardless of the opposition.

Nuno hasn't got a clue, but we all know that. Worse, the players know he's only on borrowed time. He won't last this international break if we don't see results against the Hammers and United.

 

[rusty]

the second 11 should have been good enough to get a draw last night, the fact that they didn't play well was on them not the manager
having to take first teams to come off the benchreally shows many of the second 11 need to go,

the only thing i can think is that many of our second 11 want to have the evenings and weekends free, just want to turn up to training for a few hours Mon to Fri, maybe the manager should have the second 11 do double training and train weekends maybe that will get them working

 

[ShutUpPatrik]

the second 11 should have been good enough to get a draw last night, the fact that they didn't play well was on them not the manager
having to take first teams to come off the benchreally shows many of the second 11 need to go,

the only thing i can think is that many of our second 11 want to have the evenings and weekends free, just want to turn up to training for a few hours Mon to Fri, maybe the manager should have the second 11 do double training and train weekends maybe that will get them working

I think that we still have an issue with players thinking that they are above the Conference and Europa League, as was hinted at by both Jose and Hugo last season when we had performances like this away from home. It is less of an issue when we play at home because you have the crowd pushing those players to step it up. But away from home with only a small group it seems like some players just start coasting and don't expect to have to put in the work. One work around is bringing the players that will care and push the rest to step it up like Dier but that would then force us to over play him, which only increases the risk of him making one of his mistakes.

It has been like this for years sadly. Our away record in Europe is pretty bad over all even in the CL.
I understand the concept of playing it "safe" away and then going for the wins at home. But we need to get savvier and build bit more backbone in the squad to properly do that. And that's not factoring in moving players like Dele and Winks on and getting a proper striker in so we don't rely on a 17 year old.

 

[To Dare Is To Do.]

This is a very revealing article on why Nuno appt went wrong:

Four months and out: How Nuno's Tottenham reign unravelled and why it was doomed to fail

Viewed as a kinder version of Mourinho, Nuno was not what Spurs wanted or needed. He struggled with squad and played an unattractive style

theathletic.com

Here are some excerpts:

His lack of communication:

Silva was Nuno’s No 2 at Wolves for four years and was one of his most vocal links with the dressing room. So with Silva pulling out of Nuno’s team at the last minute, the new head coach was left diminished by his absence. Especially when it came to one of his biggest failings: communication.

Anyone who has been to a Nuno press conference, or even watched an interview with him, knows how he communicates. He is unquestionably a thoughtful and intelligent man, and he chooses his words very carefully. But there is something minimalistic about how he talks, as if he tries to answer every question in as few words as possible. Virtual rather than in-person press conferences only seemed to exacerbate this.

It is not just a front or a defence mechanism put on for the media either. This is how Nuno speaks to the players as well. There is no small-talk, no chit-chat, no real dialogue with them away from the training pitch. And with no Silva there as his assistant, no one to fill that gap. What you see in Nuno’s press conferences is what you get around Hotspur Way, his new colleagues observed.

Even people who had seen Nuno up close at both Wolves and Spurs noticed he was a very different man, quieter and more withdrawn. Maybe it was the clear backing of the Molineux board, or the presence of Silva, but Nuno would speak to the players more in the West Midlands, bringing people together and forging a clear team spirit. He had the confidence of a manager who was enjoying his work and felt secure in his position.

There was none of that at Spurs. This was a much bigger squad, with higher-profile players, and that made trying to build a sense of unity and shared purpose so much harder for him. There was also little sense that Nuno was putting down roots at the London club and building relationships, perhaps another consequence of that two-year contract.

In a Tottenham dressing room with some dominant personalities, Nuno was seen as a quiet voice. Players and staff would often talk of him being “distant”, “uncommunicative” and having, compared to his predecessors, “zero charisma”. That said, they respected his decency and work ethic.

In the honeymoon stage of Nuno’s tenure, his austerity with words was taken as a potential positive. He would not come into the job making bold promises to the players about how important they were to him, or how much they would feature this season. Nuno refused to make any such promises to anyone. He did not even engage with the players who were close to leaving or trying to leave the club — precisely the sort of players who might have benefited from a conversation like that. Some players were left waiting for a phone call or a chat that never came.

Nuno’s lack of dialogue might make life less comfortable for the Tottenham squad, the optimistic theory went, but maybe that was no bad thing. Perhaps the players not knowing where they stood in the club hierarchy would keep them on their toes, would stop them from getting complacent and would force them to prove their value to him. Maybe Nuno’s ruthlessness would turn into a strength. This had been the case at Wolves, where he had more authority and his few words carried more weight. Unfortunately, it did not turn out this way at Spurs.

When Nuno arrived at Hotspur Way he was allocated a smaller manager’s office, with the large office that used to belong to Pochettino and Mourinho now being occupied by Paratici. Nuno and his staff would hole up around the table at the coaches’ office, which adjoined Nuno’s own room, rather than being out in the open-plan office area. To players who remembered the glory days of Pochettino, when he would make time for everyone, it felt like a closed shop.

This was especially pertinent because everyone at the club — not just playing staff — needed a lift after two bruising years. They needed a figure like Pochettino in his early years who would make them feel like they were part of something bigger and raise morale. Nuno was never going to be that man and as it turned out, none of his coaches was either. There was never any sense of camaraderie, which was badly needed after the dark mood that engulfed the club towards the end of Mourinho’s time in charge.

Interesting anecdote about Mourinho:

Nuno was never as unpopular as Mourinho was with the squad, in part because he would not criticise the players as fiercely in public or private as Mourinho willingly did. Just before Mourinho’s last game, the 2-2 draw with Everton in April, the Spurs squad took a vote among themselves about whether they wanted him in charge still or not and only two players voted in favour. Nuno never faced the same dressing room revolt.

Style of play:

This is a Tottenham squad that was crying out for clear footballing direction on the training ground and positive man-management. The players were frustrated that Nuno did not deliver either. An approach to the game did become apparent over time — a well-organised and structured 4-3-3 (that became a 4-2-3-1 in the last few games), with a focus on team shape and pressing at the right time. Over the last few games, they did get more comfortable in possession. But they were never good at creating chances and never looked like they had a plan to do so. “It’s unclear how we’re playing”, said one dressing-room source after the Woolwich defeat. “There are no patterns of play.”

 

[Murphy]

This is a very revealing article on why Nuno appt went wrong:

Four months and out: How Nuno's Tottenham reign unravelled and why it was doomed to fail

Viewed as a kinder version of Mourinho, Nuno was not what Spurs wanted or needed. He struggled with squad and played an unattractive style

theathletic.com

Here are some excerpts:

His lack of communication:


Interesting anecdote about Mourinho:



Style of play:

Paratici getting the big office is a bit shit.

 

[ArcspacE]

So glad this shameful chapter in our club history is finally over

 

[Guido 🇺🇦]

This is a good example of "performance" vs "results".

 

[1882]

If Wolves keep on the trajectory they are this season, I wouldn't rule out Nuno making an emotional return before Christmas!

 

[sudoku]

He had to go. Whoever comes in will do a better job.

 

[SymphonyFormation]

Hopefully in the future the next black manager we hire isn't treated in such discriminatory manner.

 

[Maureen]

Just watching the wolves game and the diff in style between how they play and how we play is chalk and cheese. Purposeful , pacy and inventive everything we were not under Nuno. Amazing how a new manager after just 9 games can instill an attacking style of play. Why couldn’t Nuno do the same with us?

 

[Kane's left]

Just watching the wolves game and the diff in style between how they play and how we play is chalk and cheese. Purposeful , pacy and inventive everything we were not under Nuno. Amazing how a new manager after just 9 games can instill an attacking style of play. Why couldn’t Nuno do the same with us?

I honestly think Nuno was suffering from burn out from his tenure at Wolves and needed some time out before he took another managerial position. In most press conferences etc, to me he just looked glum, passive aggressive and robotic.

He's a manager slightly lacking in charisma, going to a club with lots of players with big egos and most feeling they're better than they actually are. So yeah, the guy needed a break, an attacking mid, a few players sold (alli,winks etc) an ok back up striker and some more time, and things might of worked out quite different in how quickly he was able to establish his old identity.