‘Taught us how to win’ – Nuno’s previous admission about Jose Mourinho 

Nuno Espirito Santo has admitted in the past that Jose Mourinho had a major influence on him while he was playing under the former Spurs boss at Porto.

Nuno was confirmed as Tottenham’s head coach on Wednesday, 72 days on from the club’s decision to sack Mourinho.

It was not only the results that suffered towards the end of the former Chelsea boss’ rein at N17 but the style of football also left a lot to be desired.

Daniel Levy has promised fans a return to attacking and entertaining football but many have questioned if Nuno is the man to deliver that, particularly given the pragmatic approach he has often employed during his time at the Molineux.

What could concern some Spurs fans is that Mourinho seems to have been an important mentor for Nuno.

The Sun have revealed that even though the former Wolves boss was only a reserve goalkeeper at Porto who only made six appearances in two years, he enjoyed playing under Mourinho.

The former Wolves boss himself admitted himself in an interview to Sky Sports in 2018 that the special one taught him how to win football matches.

He said: “When you speak about Jose Mourinho, personally he has an impact on me. Because I was a member of the [Porto] squad in 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 at Porto. That will stay forever.

“When you have someone that manages, coaches you and you follow, and you believe and you do everything that you can because you believe in that idea in your leader – that stays forever.

“That is the impact Jose Mourinho had on me. I think with every member of that squad he taught us how to win so that will stay forever.”

While Mourinho clearly seems to have had a big influence on Nuno, Spurs fans would be hoping that the 47-year-old is a bit more adventurous in approach than his predecessor was during his time at North London.

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As much as some Spurs fans are convincing themselves that Nuno could adopt an attacking approach as he did during his time at Valencia, it seems pretty clear that his ideas about the game are similar to Mourinho’s.

Nuno certainly deserves our full backing now that he has been appointed but fans who expect us to free-flowing football next season will be disappointed. What the Portuguese coach will do is get us organised at the back which was likely Fabio Paratici’s main reason for wanting him over the likes of Potter or Ten Hag.

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