Playing for 90
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5 Premier League managers under the microscope

By Shane McFarland

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - MAY 12: United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer waves to the crowd after the Premier League match between Manchester United and Cardiff City at Old Trafford on May 12, 2019 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - MAY 12: United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer waves to the crowd after the Premier League match between Manchester United and Cardiff City at Old Trafford on May 12, 2019 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images) /
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Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Portuguese head coach Nuno Espirito Santo watches from the touchline during the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on May 12, 2019. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or ‘live’ services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo credit should read PAUL ELLIS/AFP/Getty Images)
Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Portuguese head coach Nuno Espirito Santo watches from the touchline during the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on May 12, 2019. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or ‘live’ services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo credit should read PAUL ELLIS/AFP/Getty Images) /

Nuno Espírito Santo, Wolverhampton Wanderers

Everything changes when there are expectations on you. Such will be the case for Nuno Espírito Santo’s Wolves team this upcoming season.

Following a promotion out of the EFL Championship, Nuno’s side finished seventh in the Premier League table during the 2018/19 campaign, no small feat for a promotion side. They won the majority of the games they were supposed to and gave the top sides all they could handle, earning more points against the top six save Liverpool and Manchester City last season. Not bad company to keep.

The challenge for Nuno this year will be to replicate if not better those results with an X on his back. No longer should Premier League teams underestimate the quality in this side. Mexican striker Raúl Jiménez has proven to be a legitimate No. 9, supplying great hold up play and scoring 13 goals last season to go along with 7 more assists in league play. 22-year old Portuguese midfielder Diogo Jota showed he could handle the physicality of the league and displayed his creativity in the middle of the park, scoring nine goals and assisting on five more, all the while right wing-back Matthew Doherty proved to be a revelation going forward as a real offensive threat (4 goals, 5 assists).

Nuno will likely take these expectations and temper them, as his cool and confident personality suggests. His club rarely if ever looked like they were unprepared for an opponent and showed a great amount of focus to see results out in tight games where they were having to defend for a long duration. It would not be too surprising to see Wolves back up last season’s performance with an even better one in 2019/20.

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