He displayed a marked air of dignity when Tottenham sacked him after a mere four months in 2021, but Nuno Espirito Santo’s quiet method of delivery for the latest of a carousel of Premier League clubs could deliver a grievous kind of injury to his old North London employers on Friday night.
It has by no means been a straight trajectory for him at West Ham, where a bleak, ten-game winless run in the depths of winter had the 3-0 defeat at Wolves at its nadir. ‘Embarrassing. I don’t recall one day that I felt as bad on a football pitch as today,’ Nuno said in the aftermath of that game.
But those who have played in his teams at Wolves, Nottingham Forest and West Ham speak of his clarity, his system, his capacity to engender belief. All of those explain a fragile, newfound kind of confidence ahead of West Ham’s monumental relegation clash against Wolves in east London on Friday night, which could drag Spurs into the relegation zone.
West Ham’s uptick serves as a cautionary tale for Wolves, Nottingham Forest and perhaps even Tottenham, who were all too quick to discard Nuno and have suffered since.
There are ifs and buts, for sure. Wolves, with wins over Aston Villa and Liverpool in a resurgent Spring, are arguably the Premier League’s most improved side. But Nuno has repaired his side’s defence to one of competence, capable of recovering a solid shape when out of possession, and has formed a relationship with Tomas Soucek, which could prove to be the ultimate survival factor.
It was in the 1-1 draw at Manchester City last month that the solidity and security was revealed at its best, in the performances of French centre half Axel Disasi, brought in on loan from Chelsea, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Jean-Clair Todibo.
Soucek’s performance was the one which stuck in the mind in for days afterwards. The Czech covered more distance that night than any player of the Etihad pitch bar Rodri.
His capacity for taking up attacking positions from midfield was why David Moyes loved his game and saw a lot of Tim Cahill in him. But in the elemental fight that this Premier League season has become, we have seen Soucek operating as a number 6, dropping in among the centre backs yet controlling West Ham’s football, too. A shining light.
Back in the squad on Friday night is Crysencio Summerville, the Dutch winger from whom Nuno also seemed to have coaxed his best before he was sidelined with a calf injury sustained in the FA Cup win over Brentford.
Before his strike against QPR in the FA Cup just past the turn of the year, Summerville had one goal in his first 38 games since joining from Leeds in August 2024 for £25million. He was out for nine months with a hamstring injury, suffered in Graham Potter’s first game in charge.
But his marauding work down the right served up seven goals in ten matches, made him a totemic presence in West Ham’s survival bid and brought Ruud van Nistelrooy to the club’s door, looking to see if the 24-year-old might form part of the Dutch World Cup squad this summer. ‘He’s improving. We are positive,’ Nuno said of his chances of featuring against Wolves.
Amid the relentlessly tough experience that this season has become, Nuno found himself answering for the decision to change up the squad for the FA Cup quarter final defeat to Leeds. The punishing blow of elimination on penalties, with Wembley in sight after the fairytale of England under-20 goalkeeper Finlay Herrick’s initial save, has been hard to live with, this past week.
‘We have been under pressure since the beginning because we are under constant scrutiny. We are aware that people could lose their jobs if we get relegated,’ Nuno said, when he sat down to discuss Friday’s game. ‘I truly believe the fans understand the situation and we need them for the last seven games. I hope they trust us and support us on Friday.’
West Ham have a marginally more challenging run-in than either Tottenham or Wolves, with Everton, Arsenal and Brentford to play, though have won their last five Premier League home games against Wolves. Beat them, and they will leapfrog Spurs.
Tottenham have been tweeting clips of Roberto de Zerbi’s first training session as their manager – creating the impression that he has gone down rather better than the unfortunate Igor Tudor.
But Nuno brings the experience of being plunged into the relegation zone at Forest when the team was docked points. ‘I punched something… I was disappointed,’ he reflected afterwards.
‘We just had to stick together and go for it.’ He won’t admit it, but there will a kind of vindication if he can drag Spurs into the mire.
