Nuno Espirito Santo has refused to be drawn on rumours linking him with the head coach role at Arsenal claiming it would be disrespectful to Unai Emery.
Odds on the Wolves boss taking over from the Spaniard shortened dramatically yesterday with several reports referencing the strong relationship between Arsenal’s Head of Football, Raul Sanllehi, and the 45-year-old’s agent, Jorge Mendes.
Unsurprisingly, when the Portuguese coach faced the media ahead of his side’s Europa League game with Braga, he was quizzed on the stories.
“You know me well enough and you know I’m not going to answer that,” was Nuno’s blunt response.
“I wouldn’t ever mention an issue which is not a reality, mainly as speaking about a job which has a manager would be disrespectful and I will not do so.”
Despite a rocky start to the season, which started with Europa League qualifiers in July, Wolves have come on strong in recent weeks and now sit 5th in the Premier League.
While a top-four finish might be a bit of a stretch, they seem well-placed to make life difficult for the Premier League’s traditional big hitters.
“We are doing OK, there is a lot of room to improve, it requires a lot of work but this is what we have been doing since day one when we started in the Championship,” said Nuno.
“There are no distractions at all. I don’t talk about possibilities, I don’t talk about things which are not real, what is real is that we are here, we have to train and prepare ourselves.”
The Portuguese isn’t the only candidate being strongly tipped for the top job at the Emirates. Max Allegri, currently taking a sabbatical after his success at Juventus, and ex-Gunner Mikel Arteta are both in the frame.
It’s looking increasingly unlikely that Patrick Vieira will get a go. Currently in charge at Ligue 1 side Nice, the Telegraph reports he’s being lined up as a high-profile coaching appointment at David Beckham’s new MLS franchise Inter Miami.
The US outfit are willing to pay big money to lure Vieira back Stateside – he was previously in charge at Man City’s sister club New York FC – and Nice, currently in 15th place, are aware of the interest. It seems like a bit of a backward step having returned to Europe, but money talks.
Arsenal face Frankfurt this evening before travelling to Norwich on Sunday. We suspect Emery needs two wins if he’s to stand any chance of still being in the dugout by the time we host Brighton in a week’s time.
come on – have we watched the Liverpool-Napoli match yesterday? we need Ancelotti in really. Wherever he goes he plays with the players he is given and he manages to combine efficiency with some very entertaining and tactical football.
There’s a big possibility of him leaving in the summer if not earlier, absolute shambles going on at Napoli with their club President acting a bollocks.
No doubting his credentials but, the two 5-1s aside, I remember his Bayern were pretty dull. Carlo seems like the guy we get in 3 years when our young crop have come through and we can have a real crack at the Champions’ league. The job now is a rebuilding and re-branding exercise of Arsenal’s identity, Ten Haag for me all day, and i’d be happy to wait. In that case let’s hope Munich go for the ex-spud.
He did make Chelsea quite attractive if I recall well.
That’s an oxymoron if ever I’ve heard one
Martinelli fanboy Even attempting to play attractive football with a Jose assembled squad is pretty remarkable tbf. He was more Madrid than Barca in playing style, compact and efficient, more invidual flair rather than team flair. He also won a PL and FA cup double in his very first season but got sacked because of a slow start the next season.. Abrahamovich hasn’t iust corrupted the game with this sugar daddy owner stuff but he also started this trend of sacking managers like no mans business, untill he finally won the champions league. That man has single handedly changed the… Read more »
Maybe you could argue there are other factors involved but Napoli have regressed under Ancelotti compared with Sarri, down in 7th right now.
I’ve always liked Ancelloti – regardless of the club he’s at. But I reckon Nuno is the one.
So what you’re saying is that it’s a possibility………
Sounds like he wants the job to me.
I like the guy, he has always looked to be a serious manager with the respect of his players. I find myself a little surprised to have him at the top of my list to be honest.
It feels right.
Then again so did that French girl I met on a stag-do in Newcastle and she ended up stealing my wallet. She had a beard too.
Emery has stolen my mojo, could Nuno Espirito Santo bring it back?
Good comment but not up to the level of rambling Pete ??
Don’t be that guy, no one is at the level of Rambling Pete, which makes me question where is he when we need some humor around here
Nobody is up to the level of Rambling Pete.
“she had a beard too” was good though…
Question
Nuno now or Emery continues until guaranteed Ten Haag in May?
Ten Haag is heading for Bayern, isn’t he?
Pochettino apparently..? Who knows.
Feel there’s going to be a proper merry-go-round this summer.
We might even end up with Tuchel after all.
Poch didn’t win away since January 2019? Need to double check that but seems strange to bring in someone with the same problem Wenger and Emery has regarding away matches
Completely agree. I don’t want him anywhere near here. I’m no pochettino fan. He was truly shocking last year, worse then Wenger ever was. He falls out with players and preaches rotational fouling. Overrated and bailed out by Kane time and time again.
Nketibag Harsh there mate.. He picked up players from academy and made them PL professionals, especially Kane who he transformed into a super star. He also hugely improved spurs to the point where they got within touching distance of winning PL and CL, finished above Arsenal and in the top 4 consistently. Also facilitated a stadium extention while playing at Wembley.. all that without any investment to talk about. Having said all that, I just think he is too principled a man to come to Arsenal.. In any case, it ill be interesting to see what he can do with… Read more »
No financial backing? That is the biggest myth out there surrounding him. Look back. He has spent over €440 million in 4 seasons there, with the smallest outlay a meer €50 million in 2014.
Sherwood gave Kane his debut and who else has come through from their academy.. Winks? Alli came from MK dons and the others were brought in a great expense.
Surely the smallest outlay was £0 last season?
Transfer net spent for last by years, according to transfer market..
Manchester City = £-601.78m
Liverpool FC = £-100.12m
Chelsea FC = £-113.23m
Tottenham Hotspurs = £-95.37m
Arsenal FC = £-263.38m
Wolves = £-205.40m
Everton Fc = £-225.42m
Leicester = £-129.06m
West Ham = £-152.84m
Watford FC = £-120.65m
Thats top 10 of the premier league.. it’s not a myth sir, it’s a well know fact, totts were underfunded under Poch but punched well above their weight. I am just happy he’s not there any more.
Forget net spend, he had money to spend. How much of your total was the 150million received from Bale and Kyle Walker? That means just to break even podgy poch spent £150 million himself! Do the maths buddy then check their signings. Every season £40 million plus.
Don’t forget Pochettino jumped in on the back of €100 million Gareth Bale money as well.
If CL football, academy players and a stadium move under serious financial pressure is what you’re after, look no further than one Mr A. Wenger, who handled all that for a decade. Maybe in 20 years we will look back and realise that was truly impressive.
myrtle
Of course, Wenger did a great job with all those constraints but he had less competetion for top 4. I think It is almost impossible to do such a thing in today’s PL, Totts and Poch will testify to that..
Less competition for Wenger? That was peak Man united, decent Liverpool and a fully bankrolled Chelsea and Man city he had to compete with.
Since ‘poch’ joined, man u have died, arsenal, chelsea and liverpool have been inconsistent and City have been the only regulars in the CL spots. Leicester won the league and spuds finished 5th, 3rd, 2nd, 3rd and 4th. Not bad, but not impressive if you ask me.
The spuds have one of the worst academies in the league. They’ve only graduated 4 Pl footballers this entire decade.
May? I don’t think Ten Haag would fancy managing in the Championship.
I don’t understand the hesitation among some arsenal fans to take on Nuno. Forward-thinking progressive manager who plays quick attacking football. Took a mid table championship team and made them an impressive force in the premier league with hardly any budget. Also, perhaps most importantly for us, playing fluid attractive football. SIGN HIM UP
I like the way they play but there is a very real question of Wolves’ agent connections though. How will he do when he doesn’t have 5-6 Portuguese internationals handed to him on a plate?
I fear this once great club will need more than the help of a spirito santo to sort out all its problems!
In case you didn’t know it or can’t be bothered to google it, Spirito Santo translates as Holy Spirit.
I know…i’ll leave without even getting my coat
He manages Wolves. He won’t come in as caretaker, which means he is a gamble, and we are not in a position were we can afford to gamble. Maybe we could have if we’d hired him at the start of the season. I think this is the reason why a lot of people are hesitant. That being said, we need a change, so for me any change would be welcome. At least it will be different under Nuno, which is already something.
Nuno is a wolf end of
‘Hardly any budget’. Might want to check that one.
I don’t think he plays quick attacking football with possession. His Wolves team is a reactive but well-oiled counter attacking team, which explains why he does well against the big sides that keep possession but struggles against teams that cede the ball. To me we have the wingbacks to fit his system Johnny/Doherty/Traore vs. Tierney/Bellerin/Kola but its the midfield where we’re not equipped. I think he’ll also struggle with more sides parking the bus. I vote for Eddie Howe with his suspect defence but a good youth record and a real front-foot philosophy.
I hear your reasoning but please, please no more suspect defences I want it solid as a rock. Bournemouth are just like us in that you never know what the score will be even in the 95th minute. My heart’s taken too much over the years for any more.
Maybe some of the best of the wolves portugal corner will follow him to arsenal?
No baseball cap however. No, no, no.
I know the Krankys would go for that kind of thing, I’m pretty sure all their franchises have a first team coach who wears a baseball cap, or even a Stetson, but this is Arsenal. No thank you Nuno.
#Fedora in
“strong relationship between Arsenal’s Head of Football, Raul Sanllehi, and the 45-year-old’s agent, Jorge Mendes.” –
cant say i am thrilled about his links – this guy sold man utd Bepe (very dodge) and overseen the whole Chelsea financial doping period. Not a fan personally, they all seem all about the money and not much integrity.
has Arsenal transfer philosophy changed now?
You must’ve missed the memo, Arsenal’s policy changed the moment Mislintat was ushered out for this new network-based process.
has Arsenal transfer philosophy changed now?
Are we only going to have players and managers that are linked with super agents taking super agent cuts?
Links to Santo concerns me tbh. Not because I don’t rate him, I do. But is this a link based on some kind of playing style vision? Or due to Mendes links (via Raul)? Because a much as I like what he’s done with Wolves, the simple truth is no top team fundamentally plays on the backfoot-counter. All top teams look to dominate their style of play on games, but then make adjustments against the best teams. Even Klopp and Poch both adjusted to this fact as time went on, Klopp went from gegenpressing counter to possession and usually only… Read more »
The two recent exceptions being Antonio Conte’s Chelsea and Ranieri’s Leicester!
Ofcourse,
But in many ways, they fit. Leicester was still considered small and teams went there with the idea of playing them, playing into their hands.
By the next season, they all learnt and sat back as they now treated them like a big team.
I’d like to know what kind of style Mr. Holy Spirit uses when his team are the dominant favourites with possession.
Bah, just give me Arteta.
Is that dandruff on his jacket?
Nah mate, that’s puke after he got the phone call from Arsenal!
Emery does not need just two wins to stand a chance I believe, in fact he should demonstrate a good team management and high moral of play to get it. At least that would be a lifeline indicator for me, if I was to evaluate him.
poooometer?
Bring in the Wolfmsn!!
That beard! I’m sold. ?
To me this would be an underwhelming hire (NES). He does a good job at Wolves and I respect that, but to me he seems like a personality that would not fit. I want a class act, a refined gentleman that will fit well with our values of playing modern attacking football with class. Nuno seems like Simeone, albeit a Lidl option. We don’t need a lumberjack type guy on the sidelines. Arteta all the way for me, I have no fears and don’t care if he was not a manager before. Working alongside Guardiola, what more do you need?… Read more »
@Blogs – which part of what I wrote above warrants moderation? Btw. Lidl comparison is totally yours, as you used to call that mor*n Arnautovic a Lidl Ibrahimovic :)))
😉
Arteta for me too, I’d much rather we backed a new exciting young manager than picked up the latest offering on the mediocre merry-go-round. Arteta has class, and everyone who has worked with him predicts a bright future for him. I’m starting to wonder if he would come though, we’re such a mess, but I’d love it if he did, and he’d take no shit from anyone.
Whomever we get has got to be strong enough to go toe to toe with the board on player transfers. At the end of last year we needed help in the midfield and at cb, at least by most accounts. Instead of replacements for Ramsey and Santi, we get a loanee from Real Madrid. Instead of a big time CB we get a winger from Lille, and a player we immediately loan back to the club we bought him from. In hindsight, it seems difficult to believe that Emery sanctioned all these transfers. It sure has not lead to him… Read more »
I’ve just watched Emery’s press conference. He looked awful.
On a human level, I feel sorry for the guy. You can see the stress of the job is too much for him. Sure, he’s very well paid and will get s nice pay off. But still, stress is stress. This job has aged him 10 years in a year.
The board needs to do the decent thing and put him out of his misery and let him go home. Permanently.
Not sure where I stand on Nuno. I’d love the Ajax boss (very unlikely, I know) but I’m coming round to the idea of Poch. As I heard in a recent podcast. Wouldn’t it be great to see the greatest revenge mission in football history? Imagine Arsenal winning their 4th ELP in row with Poch at the helm? And him waving to the Spurs fans as we win 6-0 at the Toilet? Yeah, I’m dreaming. But it’s almost worth signing him up just for that possibility. In order I’d try for: 1. Ten Haag 2. Pochetinno 3. Brendan Rodgers 4.… Read more »
Marcelo Galhardo, please.
Would be a risk worth taking
I think this is a media ploy by Arsenal to get fans back on Emerys’ side. No disrespect to Nuno, but I think a fair number of Arsenal fans would be underwhelmed.
Jorge Jesus