Communication is key for Nuno Espírito Santo, whether it is speaking to his squad, playing music or guiding horses over jumps. Simple and clear messages make working for and with the Nottingham Forest head coach uncomplicated, because everybody knows what is demanded of them on and off the pitch.
The only place Nuno’s methods have not worked at is Tottenham, where he returns on Monday with Forest, who are in a race to qualify for the Champions League and are preparing for an FA Cup semi-final. The Portuguese was never the right fit in north London, lasting four months before being dismissed, but he will not be out for revenge: the league table has done that for him.
Nuno’s work at Rio Ave, Valencia, Porto and Wolves earned him a shot at a big Premier League club and despite failing at Spurs he and his close-knit staff have recovered from the disappointment to take one of the Premier League’s unfancied clubs close to European qualification.
Along the way, he has learned to balance the aspects of his character that make him an inspirational leader: he is meticulous, cool under pressure but capable of outbursts of emotion, backed by self-belief. It all comes back to a love of winning and a hatred of losing. From the start he embraced being the underdog, taking Rio Ave – from Vila do Conde, half an hour north of Porto – into Europe for the first time.
“He was confident and very ambitious,” the former Rio Ave striker Ahmed Hassan says. “Everybody felt his vibe, his energy. He has a very good way to motivate players and this was one of his best attributes. He has a clear philosophy and is very hard-working and expects the same from players. I really loved his speeches before games. He tries to touch you and make you feel very motivated. Then you want to play so badly because after his speech you feel goose bumps.”
It can seem as if there is a constant intensity to Nuno. To relax he plays the handpan, a calming musical instrument often used during meditation, and has been known to show off his talents to colleagues, inspiring one to buy the instrument. He owns two horses and is a keen equestrian, using time off to ride them over jumps.
There has always been an admiration for British football. Despite not playing in the country, Nuno took his coaching badges in Scotland and always envisaged managing in England. That came to pass with Wolves in 2017, a wheel greased by his long-term adviser, Jorge Mendes.
Since the early days, he has been defensively minded and played on the counterattack, reliant on the quality of Diogo Jota, Hélder Costa and Rúben Neves to settle matches at Wolves. Not much has changed, but now it is Anthony Elanga, Morgan Gibbs-White and Callum Hudson-Odoi doing the damage for Forest. When Wolves won the Championship in 2018, 14 matches were settled by a one-goal margin. Rampant victories have rarely been Nuno’s style.
Nuno wants his players to work for one another. Talent is integral, but character is almost as important. “The whole atmosphere around the club was absolutely incredible,” says the former Wolves defender Ryan Bennett. “Every single day, the rule was you see the manager, you shake his hand, you see the staff, you shake their hand. The little things they did made the general atmosphere.”
Everyone would eat together at the Sir Jack Hayward training ground. Staff would sit at one long table and the players another. It was the job of the club captain, Conor Coady, to ask permission for players to get their food and no one would leave before the last person had finished their meal. The conversations held in the canteen built camaraderie and long‑lasting friendships.
When a player arrives, especially from abroad, Nuno makes extra effort to ensure things are settled off the pitch so they can perform on it, something Hassan benefited from. Being multilingual helps him speak to his global contingent. Fluent in Portuguese, Spanish and English, he even conversed at Wolves with the defender Maximilian Kilman in Russian, a language Nuno learned during a season as a Dynamo Moscow player.
It may not always be verbalised, but Nuno wants to win a trophy wherever he may be. “His demeanour was very serious all the time,” says Bennett. “He always looked like he was thinking and always, always very serious.”
If a team do not have ambitions to challenge for silverware, Nuno would not entertain the prospect of coaching them. Even when he joined Forest in a relegation battle, he was thinking of triumph. Two FA Cup wins at Wembley, the first against Manchester City next Sunday, would achieve this.
Nuno’s trusted fitness coach, António Dias, worked hard over pre-season, focusing on the players running for long periods to ensure everyone could cope with Nuno’s demands, and is adept at managing loads.
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“We never had many injuries because they were very meticulous with pre-activation and injury prevention,” says Bennett. “That was another massive part of the culture. We were doing things I’d never seen before; we were wearing light therapy glasses in the morning to try to keep our body clocks on at the same time when in Europe.”
Some players regard Nuno as distant, but those are the ones he feels he does not need to hover over. They can look after themselves and know how to maintain the rules, whereas the younger ones may require cajoling into line. Professionalism is demanded by the whole staff, as Hassan recalls from a misstep with Dias.
“He’s a fantastic fitness coach and he told me he needs to do some extra work with me one afternoon by myself. I arrived late because I went to the barber and left late and I remember so much that he was really pissed off with me.
“It never happened again. It was the first and last time because he’s very sharp with everything when it comes to professionalism. He likes the players to be very professional and he always tells us that this is for us for our sake.”
There is often an underlying closeness between Nuno and his players. He can randomly produce a bear hug to instigate a laugh and chat or, as Ola Aina can testify, offer a piggyback to those without the energy to walk off the pitch after a gruelling match.
Nuno works on an understanding of mutual respect, with everyone working towards a common goal, whether it is avoiding relegation or winning the league and he will not rest even when the job is ostensibly done. Wolves were promoted in 2018 with four games remaining after Fulham failed to beat Brentford thanks to a stoppage‑time Neal Maupay equaliser.
“We were watching the game, a goal went in very, very late,” says Bennett. “There was a massive cheer and obviously the English boys were a bit different and we wanted to celebrate. Five minutes after that, it was: ‘Right, we’ve got a game tomorrow, let’s go to bed, we need to prepare.’
“We came down, a totally normal morning, a normal game and we’re thinking: ‘We’re not even enjoying this.’ We won the game. Again, it was just coming to the training on Monday. It was still the same process: ‘We’ve got games to win. We want to get as many points as we can.’ It was just constant and consistent. That’s what kept us and made us what we were.”
It is all very serious to Nuno, but it will be worth it should Forest – fourth in the table before the weekend’s fixtures – secure Champions League football because he will know he did it his way and that has never changed. Then he may allow a few beers and an audience with the handpan.
