Nuno’s track record with clubs managed truly suggests how much he loves this league; he claims it to be “the best in the world”, and it shows, especially seeing as West Ham would be the FOURTH Premier League club he’s represented.
His short and unforgotten time at Tottenham Hotspur was his least successful of them all, managing 16 matches before being sacked whilst Spurs sat in 9th place.
Nottingham Forest is slowly becoming a bittersweet ending for Nuno after their rough start under Ange Postecoglou… but Nuno had achieved 7th place with Forest the season after keeping them up, as well as getting them to an FA Cup Semi-Final.
Finally, his longest stint of his managerial career was at Wolverhampton Wanderers, where he achieved 7th twice, as well as getting them to an FA Cup semi-final.
However, past stints at other Premier League clubs don’t result to anything, after all, we had Pellegrini! However, playing style and the tools he had to succeed are a focus point.
Across his successful spell at Wolves and Nottingham Forest, what did Nuno have?
The primary ‘power places’ Nuno would have would be an electric, nimble right winger, which was seen through Adama Traore at Wolves, as well as Anthony Elanga at Nottingham.
A powerhouse box-to-box, which he previously had, Ruben Neves and Elliot Anderson both played pivotal roles in his success and were arguably the most important of the XI.
And finally, he would have two goalkeepers at the peak of their careers, Rui Patricio and Matz Sels. Sels would keep 13 clean sheets in the season they finished 7th, and Patricio would have 10 for Nuno’s Wolves side in the 7th place finish (2018/19)
These pivotal roles are ones Nuno will need to ensure he has success at the Hammers; it’s a foundation required rather than admired, and unfortunately, he’s walked into a broken Hammers side which don’t have all the power tools required.
At the current state of the situation, it’s about learning how to swim with our skill set, rather than competing in the Olympics
