Tottenham already facing real coaching conundrum with Nuno Santo

After the longest and seemingly most unsuccessful coaching search in recent history, the honeymoon period for Nuno Espirito Santo is already over at Tottenham Hotspur.

For consecutive weeks here at HotspurHQ we have been beating the drum that it is far too soon to pull the plug on the Nuno Espirito Santo experiment at Tottenham Hotspur. However, after again looking lost, disinterested, and shipping another three goals, any initial goodwill for the coach is quickly disappearing as is his support in the fanbase, which was not that big, to begin with.

Wrong fire, wrong hire, no strategy at Tottenham

We can go all the way back to Monday, April 19, as to when this current mess began. Sure you can go back to Pochettino’s sacking but no road wins in over 9 months will cost almost anyone their job. With Pochettino long gone at this point, the current situation really did begin on April 19.

The 19th was significant for 2 reasons, one was the failed European Super League announcement, the other was the sacking of Jose Mourinho.

Mourinho’s hire was a match made in hell from the start for Tottenham Hotspur as a large and vocal group of fans were never going to back the pragmatic Portuguese manager. Even as Spurs got off to a flying start and were top of the table as late as December, there were always hints of discontent from much of the fanbase looking for something, anything they could use to attack Mourinho.

The timing was terrible – just six days before the Carabao Cup final, which would have guaranteed Spurs Europa League with a win – and of course Ryan Mason naively took the team to a seventh-placed finish and lost the Cup final to City 1-0. While some fans were satiated with the firing of Mourinho, the lack of direction since has made that move all the more puzzling.

Since that firing and knowing Ryan Mason was never going to permanently get the job, the next coach for Spurs became the story of the Tottenham summer, even bigger than the Harry Kane non-transfer saga.

Some big names were brought up during the 72-day search for Mourinho’s replacement. To name a few Erik Ten Hag, Hansi Flick, Julien Naggelsman, and Antonio Conte were all coaches that were considered by the club and either passed on Tottenham or Tottenham passed on them.

Ultimately, after a long and fruitless search, Tottenham settled on Nuno Espirito Santo, presumably at the recommendation of Fabio Paratici, although the club knew his profile was very similar to the coach they let go, just without winning.

Santo and Spurs look lost

After a preseason that showed a lot of promise and some free-flowing football, the reality of the regular season came to bear. Tottenham started decent enough with three 1-0 wins, however, the inability to create chances and the number of opportunities they were conceding was worrisome. Despite some damning statistics, Spurs were top of the table and had not conceded a goal, things were going okay.

Of course, the international break happened in early September and things completely fell apart for Tottenham. As several players were injured and then all three South American players were unavailable for 10 days after their international work due to Covid restrictions.

Between the injuries and absences, whatever familiarity Tottenham had with Nuno’s plan and each other seemingly disappeared. The team that has played the last three weeks looks devoid of ideas, disconnected from one another and oblivious to the ire of the fans from their lackadaisical attitude.

Spurs have now shipped 13 goals in five matches and have scored only 5 in response. The free-flowing attack of the preseason has been replaced by a plodding and trite possession that leads to nothing. The pressure and press from the preseason and early weeks have disappeared as players look lost and seem to grow further agitated with one another.

Following Sunday’s game, Santo tried to explain that the game plan did not match the players on the pitch. That excuse was particularly strange considering he is the man who supposedly comes up with both the game plan and the player selection. Unless someone else at the club is calling the shots on who should start and play, the idea that Nuno did not know the approach to best suit his XI is worrisome at the least.

GIven a complete inability to make in-game adjustments and now a lack of ability to even field a cohesive team, despite only being in the job 89 days, Nuno’s days are definitely numbered at N17.

Too similar in far too many ways to Jose, this team is not progressing in a positive fashion and clearly seems to be getting worse. At this point, the form is relegation material and things need to change quickly. The lack of runs, the lack of ball movement, and the lack of anyone willing to actually be a central midfielder are killing this team.

The good news is that Thursday is a very winnable, home game in the Conference League. Maybe, Spurs can find some momentum and use that to get back into the win column against Villa at the weekend.  If Spurs cannot get it together, who really knows what is next.

Who would want to replace Nuno?

The biggest problem is that even if Spurs decide Nuno is not the man to lead the team forward, the club still has nowhere to turn. Pochettino has three of the top five players in the world playing for him at PSG, he is not leaving.

Most coaches worth their salt are not going to leave their club in the middle of the season. Does anyone really think Graham Potter is leaving Brighton for Spurs in the middle of this season? Not likely.

Ultimately, only one coach is really available and desirable, but the lack of commitment to winning is preventing the team from going after Antonio Conte. Conte is the one coach out there and available today who would immediately help this team.

All Tottenham needs to do is look at Chelsea to see that the right coach makes all the difference. Last season, the Blues were languishing as a midtable squad under Mourinho disciple Frank Lampard. However, once Lampard was let go in January and Tomas Tuchel came in, things changed.

Chelsea, without changing their players, managed to finish in the top four and win the Champions League. Now they are building on that success and looking to win the Premier League this season.

Alternatively, Tottenham fired their coach without a plan and continues to look like a club looking for a coach with a plan. Such is the conundrum at current for Spurs, do they risk it all to find a coach that likely is not out there or just stick with the bed they have made.

Until the club steps up and gets Conte, we all can rest assured it is profit over glory at N17.