Nuno Espirito Santo wasn’t anyone’s first choice as Tottenham Hotspur’s head coach. You have to think he knows and understands that, and that’s why first impressions are so important. In his first comments in charge of Spurs, posted on YouTube and on the club’s social media channels, Nuno certainly made a good first impression.
Smart consumers of professional football always take videos like these with a healthy dose of skepticism. This is a slickly produced video created by the production team at Tottenham to make Nuno’s appointment, the process of which was anything but smooth, look as good as possible. But it’s also important to listen to the words he says, and he says all the right things.
Nuno comes across first and foremost as excited and happy to be at Tottenham, and that’s the biggest thing that he needs to convey. He’s loquacious and affable, gives the impression that he knows what he’s doing and already has plans on how he wants to succeed. He also talks directly to fans about pride, and that’s crucial — Nuno has to have the supporters on his side if he has any chance of turning around this train-wreck of a club.
According to Alasdair Gold, Espirito Santo is currently “self-isolating” at Hotspur Way after flying to London to sign the paperwork, a stark reminder that the COVID-19 pandemic is still not over. He will be ready to start working with the returning Tottenham players on Monday, the official start of preseason.
I have reservations about Nuno. I probably will for a while until we get a better idea of how he wants Spurs to play and the implementation of that playing style. However, I don’t have the personal animus towards him that I had from the very beginning with Jose Mourinho. That’s huge. I want to like Nuno. I’m going to give him a chance, probably a few of them. And I hope he succeeds. He certainly got off on the right foot with me via this video.
