Nuno Espírito Santo insisted he held “no regrets” about his ill-fated four‑month spell at Tottenham but conceded he must revamp his style to succeed at Nottingham Forest after being tasked with turning around their fortunes.
Nuno, whose last job was in Saudi Arabia with Al-Ittihad, returns to the Premier League after signing a two‑and-a-half year contract to succeed Steve Cooper, who was sacked after one win in 13 matches.
On Tuesday Nuno flew into England to meet the Forest owner, Evangelos Marinakis, and said he went to bed at 4am after analysing clips of his new players. Nuno took training on Wednesday morning and said the English top flight was more intense than when he left it just over two years ago.
Nuno led Wolves into Europe during his four-year spell there but lasted only 10 league games after replacing his fellow Portuguese José Mourinho at Spurs.
“I think we all realise the game is changing, the intensity is higher now compared to the last seasons,” Nuno said on Wednesday at his unveiling. “The level is always great in terms of players and managers.
“There have not been big changes in terms of the atmosphere around the Premier League, because that is still the same, but teams are increasing their intensity and their ball possession. We have to go fast and try to adapt to this situation.”
Nuno was sacked after just 124 days at Spurs but said he had no hard feelings about how things ended. “No regrets. It happened. It was a pleasure to be at Spurs. Things didn’t go well so you move forward. Do I have a point to prove? In football we have to prove ourselves every day, as coaches, managers and players. There is constant pressure to improve.”
Nuno, who has been reunited with Morgan Gibbs-White and Willy Boly, both of whom he worked with at Wolves, must contend with a Forest squad that is too big for his liking. “In terms of numbers, I have to be honest with you, I have never managed a squad of 30 players so that is a challenge for us,” he said.
“For the players, I told them it is now a new chance for everybody, it is an opportunity for players who before didn’t play. My door is open for everybody. What I want is everybody involved, everybody committed so we can have more options and it can make us stronger.”
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Marinakis considered Julen Lopetegui – who, like Nuno, is a client of the agent Jorge Mendes – and Oliver Glasner, the former Eintracht Frankfurt manager, before deciding on Nuno. The Greek billionaire is a long‑term admirer of the Fulham head coach, Marco Silva, who worked for Marinakis at Olympiakos, but he was deemed out of reach after he extended his contract. Cooper wanted to leave Forest with his reputation high and remains of interest to Crystal Palace.