After many weeks of searching, near-appointments, rumours and back-downs, Tottenham Hotspur have a new manager. Nuno Espirito Santo has only just left Wolverhampton Wanderers - but he’s already stepping into a new role.
It seems like a similar fit to Jose Mourinho on paper. Nuno has earned a reputation as a safety-first manager who relies on his agent contacts to bring in new faces - oh, and he’s Portuguese. Matt Doherty, for one, will be pleased with the appointment.
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But how will Spurs look under their new boss? Is it a good appointment or just the only one that Daniel Levy could get over the line? And could this convince Harry Kane to stay?
A three at the back formation
Santo was wedded to his back three at Wolves - and looking at the lack of commanding centre-backs at Tottenham, that looks like the way to go, here.
Eric Dier, in particular, is suited to a central role, stepping forward with the ball - though he feels more of a Leander Dendoncker figure than Conor Coady - while Joe Rodon and Toby Alderweireld have experience either side in back threes. Interestingly, however, Santo often favoured centre-backs on the sides opposite to their strongest foot, so we could see defenders anywhere across the back three. In Matt Doherty and Sergio Reguilon, Santo has two solid wing-backs perfect for his philosophy.
The midfield is where things get interesting. Nuno favoured two superb tempo-setters in Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho and doesn’t have the same kind of players in Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Giovanni Lo Celso. The role of Tanguy Ndombele will be fascinating too: he’s clearly a supremely gifted midfielder but has polarised managers thus far in North London. Nuno could perhaps use him as a no.10 ahead of a double-pivot or shore up with a three-man midfield and two forwards ahead.
Kane, should he stay, fits the system nicely as the link-up forward, while Son Heung-Min playing off of him can be devastating. Steven Bergwijn and Lucas Moura are useful options with movement and trickery, too; Nuno is happy going with a front two or three, though, depending on the scenario.
Mentality and shape
Aside from a bizarre four-at-the-back experiment last season, Wolves were consistent in their set-up of three central defenders. They weren’t afraid to cede possession against more adept teams and hit them on the counter, either, with some critics labelling Nuno as negative for doing so. Given that Spurs are a bigger club with an expectation to play attractive football, this may be a sticking point for some fans.
Wolves’s press under Nuno was high and regimented in the Championship, with attackers pushing opposition defenders to the touchline, particularly when they had loose touches or their back was to goal. Though Nuno’s side wasn’t quite so energetic in their harrying last season, a lot of this can be attributed to tiredness from having played a long campaign the season before.
Another interesting aspect is the squad sizes that Nuno is used to. At Wolves, he used very few players, even when the club were competing in Europe as well as domestically. Though the Portuguese admitted that Wolves would have to change their strategy on that front, don’t be surprised if there are more outgoings than new faces in North London this season.
New signings
Speaking of new signings, Tottenham fans are expecting Portuguese players - and lots of them - arriving this summer.
Harry Kane leaving could well fund a rebuild but looking at the components that Santo has at his disposal to start with, quite a few members of the squad seem suited to a more pragmatic approach. Were Tottenham bringing in an expansive, exciting young coach drilled in positional play, maybe a new right-back, a wide player, a midfielder and a commanding defender might be necessary: right now, there are plenty of players who can fill those gaps, at least for a year.
Should Gareth Bale not return, the burden upon Kane and Son might feel a little too much - and Nuno knows of that strain, from his time managing Raul Jimenez and Adama Traore. A new attacker would be great, while a progressive passer in midfield is needed, should Ndombele not be to Santo’s liking.
Remember too that Ryan Sessegnon could well return from loan to become a direct, dribbling winger in the mould of Traore, while Cameron Carter-Vickers excelled last season with Bournemouth on loan. This should be a quiet summer of business for Spurs but perhaps just one or two tweaks could make more of a difference than first meets the eye.
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