View: ‘Woeful’ stat proves why Nuno appointment would be ‘catastrophic’ for Leeds United
Appointing Nuno Espirito Santo could be a catastrophic misjudgement from the Leeds United hierarchy.
According to the Daily Mail. (pg 72, 14 February), Nuno continues to be pushed for the vacant job at Elland Road after the Whites missed out on a host of targets including the likes of Alfred Schreuder and Marcelo Gallardo.
Leeds confirmed on Tuesday (14 February) that Skubala will remain in charge of the first team for the club’s “upcoming fixtures”, including this weekend’s mammoth clash against Everton.
Nuno has been managing Al-Ittihad since July 2022. He has won 13 of the 19 games he has managed for the Saudi Arabian club.
It’s a fair return but it is always hard to judge the suitability of a manager or player who is playing in a far inferior league.
So, let’s take a look at Nuno’s last role in England, the Tottenham job. You can quite easily compare his record at Tottenham and Al-Ittihad because he only managed 17 games before being shown the door by Spurs.
It was a disastrous appointment. Spurs spent most of the summer chasing Antonio Conte then Brendan Rodgers but ended up with a man who Wolves didn’t want anymore.
What Nuno did at Wolves deserves respect but they were poor during his final season at Molineux, finishing 13th in the Premier League after briefly flirting with relegation.
Then came Tottenham. One of the worst appointments in the history of the Premier League? Maybe.
After a successful start, winning his first three league games, Nuno’s Tottenham then capitulated.
A 3-0 loss to Crystal Palace followed, then another 3-0 humbling came from Chelsea before an embarrassing derby defeat to Arsenal which saw Tottenham go 3-0 down before halftime.
As per WhoScored, Spurs only had two shots on target across those three games, just woeful stuff.
Things turned toxic and after another 3-0 hammering by Man United, Nuno was sacked on 1 November.
That was his last performance in England, terrible. Has he rebuilt his reputation abroad? The answer is no, he’s been managing in Saudi Arabia.
You can understand the desire to bring in a new manager with Premier League experience but surely Leeds United should be aiming higher.
The key question to think of when replacing Marsch has to be, is the new manager better than the old one?. If it’s going to be Nuno then the answer is no.
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