Nuno Espirito Santo’s future at Tottenham Hotspur is already hanging in the balance despite his relatively brief tenure in north London.
According to Spurs expert Alisdair Gold, the club are already thinking of sacking the Portuguese manager after just five rounds of the Premier League fixtures.
Whether Tottenham made a bad call to hand the managerial reins to Nuno in the summer is open to debate.
However, it looks like the ex-Porto strategist’s overly defensive philosophy has seen him fall out with the London faithful.
Nuno could only manage an underwhelming 13th-place finish with a respectable Wolverhampton Wanderers side in 2020/21, with his team netting just 36 goals in 38 Premier League matches.
The 47-year-old has refused to give up his tactical approach at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which has seen Spurs score a miserly average of just 0.6 goals per top-flight game this term.
A hat-trick of slim 1-0 victories to kick-start his new adventure in the capital are the only thing that keeps the Portuguese in the Spurs hierarchy’s good grace.
Nuno will have to figure out how to get his side’s league campaign back on track after slumping to a brace of horrific 3-0 defeats to cross-city rivals Crystal Palace and Chelsea.
Although the fans might forgive him for guiding his side to heavy back-to-back losses against bitter opponents, the way Tottenham played across those games has raised many eyebrows.
Even before Japhet Tanganga’s second-half red card against Palace, Spurs looked clueless on the pitch and were almost invisible in the front third.
They failed to attempt a single shot on goal throughout the opening 45 minutes at Selhurst Park against a side that conceded 2+ goals in two of their three previous Premier League outings.
A dreadful defeat to Chelsea at the weekend added insult to injury, especially considering Spurs allowed 20 shots on goal, including ten on target.
Harry Kane and co barely troubled Blues keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga at the other end of the pitch, forcing the Spaniard to make just two comfortable saves.
Another massive concern for Nuno is that Tottenham talisman Kane has yet to find the net in the Premier League this season.
The absence of attractive football has highlighted Spurs’ early exchanges and seen the fans grow frustrated with the new manager.
Tottenham’s trip to the Emirates Stadium for an all-London match-up against an improving Arsenal side on Sunday could prove decisive to Nuno’s future at the club.
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