After a famous victory over Manchester City in his opening game as Tottenham boss, Nuno Espirito Santo returns to Wolves this afternoon.

The Portuguese tactician will get a rapturous ovation from the Molineux faithful, while the Spurs crowd are slowly taking to their new boss.

But the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium expect a successful campaign under him? We turn the spotlight on the Portuguese coach. 

The Wolves era

Under Nuno, Wolves were known for playing three centre-backs and counter-attacking at pace.

Conor Coady marshalled the backline superbly as the likes of Joao Moutinho and Ruben Neves patrolled the midfield.

Before the sale of Diogo Jota and injury to Raul Jimenez, Wolves were exciting to watch going forward as well. 

They picked up thrilling wins at City and Spurs by keeping it tight and before pouring forward in numbers.

But they were also dull to watch at times. Nuno hates his side giving the ball away and wants defensive discipline.

They scored just 47 first-half goals in 114 Premier League games under the 47-year-old and netted 87 in the second. 

Speaking in March 2020, Nuno said: "Traditionally you are defending, you recover the ball, you counter-attack.

"But you can prepare where you recover the ball, who is going to recover the ball. You are determining the moment of your counter-attack. You can unbalance a team without the ball. I work a lot on that process."

Before Wolves

But that is not to say this is how Nuno will set Spurs up.

There were murmurs of discontent among fans when he was appointed in North London as they feared negative football.

But he barely ever used three central defenders when in charge of Valencia and never did at Porto.

During his time in LaLiga, Valencia were known for playing eye-catching football and entertaining fans.

With the likes of Heung-Min Son, Steven Bergwijn, Lucas Moura and new signing Bryan Gil at his disposal, there is no reason this will not also be the case at Spurs.

Not Mourinho Mark II

Part of fans’ discomfort with Nuno’s arrival was the easy comparisons with Mourinho.

And while there are some similarities — they are both Portuguese, managed Porto, want to create siege mentalities and do like to adapt their sides according to the opposition — Nuno is far from a Mourinho clone.

Where Mourinho publicly calls out players, Nuno refuses to do so.

Where Mourinho is usually wedded to one system and not tactically flexible, Nuno is the opposite.

And when Nuno left Wolves, he departed as a hero, loved by the Molineux crowd. It is a lifetime since the Special One managed that in England.

The early signs

Against City and in pre-season, Tottenham used a 4-3-3 system.

They have not got great strength in depth at centre-back and are looking to add another new option alongside Christian Romero, so that is not surprising.

The role of Dele Alli in a midfield three with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Oliver Skipp has caught the eye.

The 25-year-old has been deployed as a box-to-box midfielder, leading the press as well as getting on the ball.

Whereas the mercurial Tanguy Ndombele appears to be surplus to requirements under Nuno, Alli is getting a real chance at staking his claim.

Considering he fell out of favour under Mourinho for his lackadaisical passing at times, that is slightly surprising.

Going forward, the club's wingers have already shown they are adapting to Nuno’s demands well.

They caused City’s defence all manner of problems, carrying on from the form they showed in pre-season.

It would be a surprise if this is not the blueprint going forward — with or without Harry Kane.