‘I don’t think Nuno at Spurs felt right’: Jamie Carragher claims Nuno Espirito Santo should NEVER have been offered Tottenham job after Portuguese boss lasted just 10 dismal games
- Nuno Espirito Santo was sacked by Tottenham just four months into his reign
- The former Wolves boss was appointed after Spurs were rejected by top bosses
- Spurs’ limp 3-0 defeat to Manchester United was the final straw for the club
- Jamie Carragher believes Santo was setup to fail in the north London job
Nuno Espirito Santo was doomed from the start at Tottenham, according to Jamie Carragher, who pin-pointed the manager’s personality and tactics as a poor fit.
The north Londoners’ lifeless, threat-free defeat to Manchester United was the Portuguese’s final contribution, with the club in an ever grimmer mess than the summer.
Fans, players and few elsewhere could warm to Santo’s conservative approach to tactics and interviews, while a want-away world class striker and mishmash squad saw the odds stacked against him.
Nuno Espirito Santo has been sacked by Tottenham after falling to defeat against Man United
Jamie Carragher believes Spurs chief Daniel Levy should never have appointed the manager
Asked whether he could understand the decision on Sky Sports, Carragher said: ‘Yes I can.
‘I can never justify coming on here and talking about a manager losing his job after 10 games. It doesn’t feel right but I don’t think Nuno at Spurs felt right.
‘I also think Nuno, with how he comes across: he’s very reserved and doesn’t give much away. I think the media plays a big part with fans analysing everything the manager says now.
‘You get absolutely nothing from Nuno and I don’t think that’s going to work at a club like Spurs. But the performance aligned with the results is why he’s lost his job.
‘Tottenham’s best manager for the last years has been Pochettino. He had a really tough start, he spoke about that 10th game being important. He was actually feeling he was going to lose his job.
Carragher believes Santo’s personality and tactics were never likely to work for Tottenham
Spurs are in a sticky situation, with Harry Kane desperate to escape from a mishmash squad
‘The reason why Pochettino survived is there was something to get behind in terms of performance. Under Nuno, even their wins haven’t been convincing. I think it’s about performance more than results.’
While Santo’s 10 Premier League games left Spurs ninth and 10 points behind league leading London rivals Chelsea, he fell to seven losses in 17 games overall.
They only managed to beat an opponent by more than a single goal twice. Both came against lowly Europa Conference League sides, though the competition still threw up a lowlight in the 1-0 defeats to Pacos Ferreira and Vitesse.
Now Spurs are closing-in on the world’s most sought-after boss, Antonio Conte, as Santo’s replacement.
Conte rejected the north London club in the summer but with the club’s transfer chief Fabio Paratici having worked with the Italian at Juventus, a deal is reportedly moving closer.
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