Express & Star

Jose Mourinho opened the door for me, says Wolves boss Nuno

Nuno Espirito Santo has acknowledged that without Jose Mourinho’s huge impact on the Premier League, he may not have got the chance to manage Wolves.

Published

Nuno thinks very highly of Mourinho, who he was taking on for the first time as a manager today at Old Trafford, after playing under him at Porto.

Porto won the Champions League, UEFA Cup and Primera Liga while Mourinho was at the helm – and Nuno was stand-in keeper.

And a massive thing Nuno learned from him was that you have to get to know each and every player in the squad as a person, before you understand them as a footballer.

“Before players, they are human beings,” he said.

“You have to look at a player that you manage – first of all, you have to know him. You have to know what moment in his life he is (in). All of this requires large knowledge of emotional aspects.

“You can’t ask a player to do what you want if he is not in the right mood.

“You have to know him, that there’s a human being in a man – with girlfriends, with family, with social problems, whatever. He knew how to take the best out of each of us. That is one of the things Mourinho did so well. I’m trying to do the same.”

Nuno admits Mourinho has been a ‘big inspiration’ to him – and many other Portuguese managers, such as Andre Villas-Boas and Carlos Carvalhal who have also managed in the top flight.

“It’s not easy to come to the Premier League and achieve what Chelsea achieved in that first year,” he added.

“I truly believe Mourinho was the first manager that opened the door for all of us that came after. He was the first one, who proved the quality of Portuguese managers and allowed us to have a chance away from our country.

“Not only me, a lot of managers after that had a chance to come to the Premier League as they were related to Mourinho. He opened the door.”