Jose Mourinho has opened up on the sacking of Nuno Espirito Santo from Tottenham Hotspur, who have hired Antonio Conte as his replacement.
Speaking to Sky (via FC Inter News h/t Sport Witness), AS Roma manager Jose Mourinho has expressed his backing for Nuno Espirito Santo after his compatriot was sacked by Tottenham Hotspur.
Nuno had taken over at Tottenham in the summer, coming in as a permanent replacement for Mourinho himself, who had been let go of the north London giants in April earlier this year. Between Jose’s sacking and Nuno’s appointment, ex-Spurs midfielder Ryan Mason was handed the reins as an interim basis.
Nuno made a bright start to life as Tottenham manager, with a three-game winning streak that included a victory over Manchester City, sending the Lilywhites to the top of the Premier League table. However, things went south for the Portuguese tactician following the first international break as the team struggled to put together a run of positive results, leading to increased pressure.
The UEFA Europa Conference League loss to Vitesse Arnhem left Nuno’s job dangling by a thread and a 3-0 bashing at the hands of Manchester United at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last weekend prompted club chairman Daniel Levy to swing the axe. In his stead, former Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has taken over the reins of the club.
Mourinho has now sympathised with his compatriot and successor at Spurs, claiming that he deserved more time to make things work while adding that Conte is a good coach. “I think Conte is a good coach, but Nuno is a very good coach,” he said.
“He did a fantastic job at Wolverhampton for 4-5 years, not one year or a few months. That’s why I say Tottenham have a very good coach now, but they also had that with Nuno,” Mourinho added.
This will be Conte’s second stint in England, with the Italian having managed another of Mourinho’s former clubs, Chelsea, in the past. Conte won the Premier League title and the FA Cup in his two seasons at Stamford Bridge. A proven winner, he also led Inter Milan to the Serie A title last season. It will be interesting to see if he can replicate that success with Spurs.