There is a reason why Daniel Levy can be uncommunicative. The Tottenham chairman made himself a prisoner of his words when, in his programme notes in May, he in effect apologised for joining the European Super League and hiring Jose Mourinho. “We lost sight of some key priorities and what is in our DNA,” he wrote, pledging to recruit a manager who played “free-flowing, attacking and entertaining” football.
Some 72 days after Mourinho was sacked, Levy belatedly appointed someone. “I’ve spoken already about the need to revert back to our core DNA of playing attacking, entertaining football,” he said, supposedly as supporting evidence for choosing Nuno Espirito Santo.
All of which suggested he had not watched Wolves last season. Nuno’s Wolves got 36 goals in 38 league matches; for good measure, they averaged under a goal a game in both the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup as well. While there are mitigating factors, including Raul Jimenez’s fractured skull, Nuno’s Wolves played dull, passive, static football. An attempt to switch to 4-2-3-1 and a more progressive style of play backfired.
Spurs have replaced one defensive Portuguese manager represented by Jorge Mendes with another defensive Portuguese manager represented by Jorge Mendes. It is not the most obvious way of showing they have changed tack. Nor is it a logical method to persuade Harry Kane who, by scoring 23 times and assisting on 14 others, was involved in more goals than Wolves, to stay at Spurs.
The fact Nuno was only given a two-year contract felt a recognition he is not actually Tottenham’s ideal candidate. If it is a vote of very little confidence, it could at least reduce the payout if he is sacked. That, two months earlier, Spurs started out hoping for Julian Nagelsmann and ended up Nuno is an indication of how badly their manager search went.
It became embarrassing, taking in Hansi Flick, Erik ten Hag, Brendan Rodgers, Mauricio Pochettino, Antonio Conte, Paulo Fonseca and Gennaro Gattuso as, in the meantime, Nuno was almost appointed by Crystal Palace. Had Spurs particularly wanted him, they could have intervened rather earlier.
Nuno’s advocates are entitled to argue he should not just be judged on a wretched final year at Molineux. There are reasons to deem him Wolves’ best manager since Stan Cullis. A dominant promotion, back-to-back seventh-place finishes and a long European run amounted to a formidable body of work in his first three seasons.
Certainly he improved players – including Matt Doherty, who had a disastrous first year at Spurs without him – in a way Mourinho rarely does anymore. Pedro Neto and Diogo Jota’s swift developments show he can nurture young players, whereas Mourinho often gave up on them. Nuno is more of a coach. His leadership feels more empathetic.
Wolves’ habit of beating the supposed big six, who all lost at Molineux during his reign, may bode well for Spurs. Even amid the misery of last season, Wolves still defeated Arsenal and Chelsea. But the tactical emphasis was always on control. Even with the outstanding Jimenez, Nuno’s Wolves’ best top-flight tally was 51 goals. It was an essentially negative blueprint.
And, while Spurs dream of excitement, Wolves were a team who looked better on highlights, which could include the explosiveness and edit out the docility. Even when they were going well, they could be curiously unambitious. Wolves were the joint second lowest scorers in first halves in 2019-20.
Then Wolves wasted £72 million ($99.2m) on Nelson Semedo and Fabio Silva, two others with Mendes connections. Nuno looked burnt out last season. It means he arrives looking the wrong man at the wrong club at the wrong time. Though the fault for that lies more with Levy than Nuno.
