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Nuno Espírito Santo - Sacked
- Thread starter Denmark Spur
- Start date
johnola
Jermaine Jenas
Whilst I have Sleeper pretty much at the top of Britpop.
Bedfordspurs
Mark Falco
Always fancied Louise Wener
For all the concerns people have with Nuno (and I get it), I think we need to be patient. I feel for him. It hasn't been an easy start with first being appointed later than what would have been ideal, having to ship out a bunch of first team players, buying new, players arriving back late from international duty, Harry Kane saga, then the internationals week/injuries/quarantines, just the lack of time on the training pitch with the players. It has been really difficult.
He has inherited a talented squad who lets be honest have lost their way over the past couple of seasons, and trying to instil some confidence and find a playing style. All while combating these other issues. He deserves a fair crack. So far I wouldn't say it's been fair. A lot of the problems I see have been inherited from the season gone.
He has inherited a talented squad who lets be honest have lost their way over the past couple of seasons, and trying to instil some confidence and find a playing style. All while combating these other issues. He deserves a fair crack. So far I wouldn't say it's been fair. A lot of the problems I see have been inherited from the season gone.
Mr Gogolak
Sean Davis
Unfortunately, a lot of people were convinced six months ago that we had the 4th best squad in the league. Apparently, Mourinho made the same assessment and that was probably his biggest mistake. I'm beginning to think that his record will compare favorably to the last few months of Pochettino's tenure, as well as Santo's. If you add Mason to the mix, Santo's the fourth manager who can't get a tune out of this squad. In fact, nobody had since the Champions League final.
I'd say we're somewhere between 7th and 12th at the moment and finishing in the Top 6 would be a very good achievement. It's too early to say for sure but, at this point, I'd say Santo is an ok manager but certainly not a master tactician or someone who can turn average performers into world beaters.
The Covid crisis came at the worst possible time for us. Pochettino has been sacked two years ago and we still need a massive overhaul of players. We're also paying the price of some terrible mistakes on the transfer market but, at the moment, there's a real feeling that we're going to be sucked back into mid-table obscurity. Santo looks like the kind of managers we signed before Redknapp, the par-for-the-course kind. I really hope I'm wrong but, apart from his spell at Valencia, I don't really see anything in him that makes me think he can turn the tide.
I'd say we're somewhere between 7th and 12th at the moment and finishing in the Top 6 would be a very good achievement. It's too early to say for sure but, at this point, I'd say Santo is an ok manager but certainly not a master tactician or someone who can turn average performers into world beaters.
The Covid crisis came at the worst possible time for us. Pochettino has been sacked two years ago and we still need a massive overhaul of players. We're also paying the price of some terrible mistakes on the transfer market but, at the moment, there's a real feeling that we're going to be sucked back into mid-table obscurity. Santo looks like the kind of managers we signed before Redknapp, the par-for-the-course kind. I really hope I'm wrong but, apart from his spell at Valencia, I don't really see anything in him that makes me think he can turn the tide.
braineclipse
Steve Sedgley
Absolutely. I don't have a problem with discussions about those concerns, but it should always be remembered that this will take time.
Think there’s also some recency bias going on with the Chelsea match. Yes the second half was brick, and reason for concern. But the first half was excellent, and equal reason for optimism.
Unfortunately though we do have a light squad in key attacking / creative areas, so I do fear for Nuno if we can’t keep all of Kane, Son, Moura and Ndombele consistently fit. (Unless Bergwijn, Gil and/or Lo Celso really step up).
Unfortunately though we do have a light squad in key attacking / creative areas, so I do fear for Nuno if we can’t keep all of Kane, Son, Moura and Ndombele consistently fit. (Unless Bergwijn, Gil and/or Lo Celso really step up).
Finney Is Back
Luka Modric
He has a system and injuries have made it difficult for him to play the players he wants in that system. I'm not sure that it would be a good thing for him to be chopping and changing the system so early in his time at the club..... That way we may never become competent at playing within his system.
Finney Is Back
Luka Modric
I think its clear that we need to sack off the Carabao Cup with pretty much an under 23 team and some of the first team players not close the starting line up (i.e. Davies, Rodon, Doherty, Winks).
We have a small, fragile squad, without a great deal of quality in reserve that we might be able to nurse through to the end of the season as long as we don't have too many games.
I've no problem with him implementing a system and sticking to it, but he has players he could use but is refusing to use them or using them in the wrong positions.
Dele is not a midfielder, he plays him there when he had the option of playing Skipp or Lo Celso there. Against Chelsea it would've made sense to play Skipp and PEH to
give that extra cover. Dele is giving 100% but that doesn't make him a midfielder.
He switches Kane to the left and Son upfront, that has nothing to do with a system. It ended up with Kane doing most of his work even deeper than usual and took Son away from his best position.
Lo Celso isn't a RWF and there were better options, such as Gil. If Nuno insists on playing Dele that would've been a better position to play him and let him get closer to the forward were he can do some damage.
Finney Is Back
Luka Modric
Yes he could've played Skipp instead of Dele yesterday but Dele has been better than Skipp in that midfield 3 this season. Lo Celso I don't see as being able to play in our midfield 3 unfortunately. I think we should try to cash in on him in January and see if we can get a player better suited to our system and the PL in general.
I didn't understand the Kane/Son switch to be honest. I also would've rather had Gil on the right instead of Lo Celso. If we're going to be playing a front 3 who are pretty much freed from defensive responsibility (as seemed the case yesterday) then we might as well have a creative attacking player in that front three instead of Lo Celso. Unfortunately though I think we are short on the RHS after Bale left with him not being replaced (club should've got the manager's target Traore.... Give him the tools he wants and then if the manager fails at least he is failing having been given the tools).
Certainly agree with that. I think you can throw in Skipp and Gil too, and then there are some younger players like Devine and Scarlett who deserve a chance.
parklane1
Tony Galvin
Very good post which i agree with, so many fans are so quick to jump on him after a handful of games. I understand that we all are unhappy with the way we have gone over the last 3 years but we should all accept that we have a major rebuild going on and it will take time.
Yes, and whilst I'm not convinced by some of the early signs from Nuno (I'm crossing my fingers that the chelsea first half will be the norm going forwards), the other challenge with anyone suggesting that we might change Nuno is who we'd replace him with.
Until the squad rebuild has been completed and looks younger, more talented and with more potential, I think we'd be in the same position when finding Mourinho's successor. I dont think we need wholesale changes (we need another CF, a CM who retains possession well and probably a CB) but with those additions (of young players), the squad will then be attractive to a new manager if Nuno hasnt shown results by then
parklane1
Tony Galvin
i agree, i thought we looked good in the first half against Chelski and its going to take time for the squad to blend and the new signings to settle. Chelski killed us in the 2nd half but for me they will probably win the Prem this year.
We have been unable to deal with a low block and a high press since the time of Dembele's demise and Eriksen's downed tools. And even before that we struggled. The biggest reason we lost the league in 15/16 was our inability to beat the likes of West Brom, Stoke, Saudi Sportswashing Machine playing two banks of five. So let's be realistic, my friend. Even his exalted genius Signor Guardiola needed a year to get his system into a squad of infinitely better players and enable them to cut through teams playing the low block.
If you think Nuno is going to correct that long festering, gaping hole in 4 games, after a transfer window where the only creative addition was a 20 year old greenhorn coming from a different league, then I am sorry to say you are sorely deluded
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A voice of reason....
I am seeing many people who seem to be thinking that the squad rebuild is going to be easy. I wish that will be the case but I suspect otherwise. We have seen how difficult it was to recruit established players even if we are willing to pay over the odds (rarely the case). With Champions League now a universe away, our only options are players of the likes of Sarr or Gil; extremely promising but still raw. Only problem is that this strategy has a high risk that the players will not make that next step or if they do, they would then want to move to CL clubs. Remember Berbatov, Bale, Carrick, anyone? Hopefully our stadium will give us greater financial clout that we had at that time but even then we did not need to sell them...
Life depends on sliding doors moments. We missed our opportunity when we were at our best through a combination of exceptionally good transfers, a good coach and a loss of form of the traditional big 4. That combination is unlikely to happen any time soon. It's going to be a long hard slog to get there again so we may as well temper our immediate expectations....
Bedfordspurs
Mark Falco
If we played like we did first half yesterday vs palace we wouldn’t have lost that
Of course we didn’t have half the side available
But that team with changes of the positions of dele and Lo Celso could work
Bedfordspurs
Mark Falco
Dier and Romero looked really encouraging yesterday
Scarily so to me
And Sanchez and Tanganga have played well at CB when playing so far
The issues the other end need fixing but he needs options to do that
Gil is one for the future. Yesterday he looked like a boy
BrainOfLevy
Michael Carrick
I feel like this really nails it. When you consider the amount of crap he's had to deal with, and it's laid out like you just did so, you can see he's had a really tough job and as you say, hasn't remotely had a fair crack of the whip.