‘He has changed’ – Doherty makes Nuno claim after being reunited at Spurs

Matt Doherty believes Tottenham head coach Nuno Espirito Santo has changed since his tenure at Wolves and needs time to get Spurs fully firing after the pair were reunited in North London this summer. 

The Portuguese manager was appointed as the Spurs boss at the end of June, which brought an end to the long-running search for Jose Mourinho’s successor in North London. 

Nuno hit the ground running at the club, recording three consecutive 1-0 wins to kick off Spurs’ Premier League campaign and sat top of the pile heading into the first international break. 

But things have somewhat fallen back down to reality, with injuries, suspensions and quarantine issues shifting what was a promising start to the season into a mini-crisis so early on. 

Spurs returned from the break with a 3-0 defeat at Crystal Palace, then scraped an unconvincing draw in their Europa Conference League opener at Rennes. 

Republic of Ireland international Doherty worked with Nuno for a handful of seasons at Wolves and believes the Portuguese coach needs time for his methods to be implemented properly at the club. 

The full-back also claimed Nuno has altered some of the playing methods he used in the West Midlands but hasn’t strayed away from his principles. 

Doherty said: “He is only at the start of his reign, it takes time.

“You see what he did at Wolves, it takes a few seasons to master it, I am not saying it is going to take that long here, but with a bit of time and coaching and working on the training pitch it won’t be long until he has us firing.

“He has changed a little bit from what I remember. He has always been a top-class coach, but he has had to adapt.

“He has changed the way he wants to play which is the main thing, he has changed the formation but his principles are still the same, he still wants to win games and play nice football. That is the main thing, that’s his way of playing.”

Spurs Web Opinion 

Nuno has had some time to get his playing methods across, and it doesn’t look too convincing despite the winning start to the season.

But there has been a big element of misfortune come his way so easy on, with injuries piling up at the same time and the South American quarantine debacle to contend with.

With a full squad at his disposal, that is when the real test of judgement occurs.  

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