Manchester United vs Wolves: Master meets apprentice
While tomorrow is the first competitive meeting between the pair as managers, Jose Mourinho and Nuno Espirito Santo are certainly no strangers to each other.
Nuno knows all about what makes the self-proclaimed Special One just that.
In 2004, they reached the pinnacle of the European game.
Nuno was in the squad as Porto clinched the Champions League crown with a 3-0 win over Monaco in Gelsenkirchen.
And although the now Wolves chief was not a crucial part of the triumph – the former goalkeeper did not play in the final or any of their other games in the competition – it stood him in great stead for his future career as a boss.
That season with Porto acted as a springboard for Mourinho.
He soon left for Chelsea and has since gone on to win three Premier League titles, two Serie A crowns, one La Liga, another Champions League and a Europa League – and lots of other cups. And Nuno, having been on the sidelines for all of that run, got to know Mourinho’s intricacies – those fractions that helped him become one of the greatest chiefs of this generation.
Nuno actually only played six games in a two-year spell under Mourinho so was, way more than most, accustom to his touchline behaviours, his game-changing lightbulb moments – and will not have forgot them.
Nuno will have implemented similar ideas himself.
Porto won the Primera Liga in the same campaign as the Champions League too, and the UEFA Cup the term prior.
On what he learnt from Mourinho during that time, Nuno said: “A lot.
“In that moment, what we had, the group of players we had, the way Mourinho manages made us believe that it was possible to do what we did as a squad.
“We won everything, and it was absolutely fantastic.
“You take from everyone. When you have such success it’s because you do things right.
“Of course you learn a lot as a player when you pay attention to managers when they speak to you.”
There are obvious similarities between the duo. Of course, both are Portuguese.
They are also both represented by super agent Jorge Mendes – and are both driven by the desire to win.
But a big difference between the two is how they are viewed by their fans.
Nuno is adored. His first season at the Wolves helm could not have gone any better.
They won the Championship with relative ease, playing football not seen at Molineux for many a year – if ever – and have adjusted very well to life in the top flight. The Wolves players seem fearless.
They clearly trust in Nuno’s philosophy and, had it not been for some slightly below par finishing, would have thrashed Burnley last time out.
Mourinho, though, is under constant scrutiny.
It appears to have taken its toll on him too.
His bouncy, charismatic approach from his early days at Chelsea has been replaced by a frustrated demeanour.
United come into the clash on the back of three straight wins – two in the Premier League, one in the Champions League – but there is a feeling that Mourinho is only a few bad losses away from being sacked.
His relationship with United’s star man Paul Pogba, despite the fact that the Frenchman scored twice against Young Boys on Wednesday night, looks to be on rocky ground as well.
Nuno was even touted as a potential successor to Mourinho a few weeks ago – speculation the Wolves manager was keen to ‘totally ignore’.
It is the wily teacher taking on the exciting apprentice and one would assume they have huge respect for each other.
Mourinho – like he is to a lot of managers, especially those from Portugal such as Andre Villas-Boas – will be seen as a role model by Nuno.
But do not expect either of them to hold back.
This is the Premier League, after all, and success at United would be an enormous step for Wolves and Nuno, who could well end up taking the league by storm in the next few years – just like his old gaffer.
