Matt Doherty has delivered an honest verdict on his first season at Tottenham and what his team-mates can expect from new boss Nuno Espirito Santo. The 29-year-old Republic of Ireland right-back arrived at Spurs last summer and played 29 times for the club in his first campaign, but on just 17 occasions in the Premier League as he struggled for form. Now Doherty has his former Wolves boss at the helm and he believes the club have made a great appointment in Espirito Santo.
Matt Doherty said: “Obviously we worked together and there were a few familiar faces when I got back with his coaching staff. We had quite a good relationship and a successful time at Wolves, getting into Europe and finishing high and getting promoted. I know the way he works, he knows the way I work and he’s a very good on-field coach. As I’ve said over the years I’ve got nothing but praise for him. He’s a world class coach and his backroom staff are world class and I maintain that. That doesn’t change and I think we’ve very fortunate to have him here. He had an immediate impact [at Wolves]. Obviously winning the league by nine points I think it was in the very first season and then going up and getting back-to-back seventh place finishes and getting into Europe. So he’s had nothing but success so far in England and with the set-up and facilities and quality of players we’ve got here I’m sure it will be successful for him.”
Doherty was asked what his Tottenham team-mates can expect from this pre-season period under the Portuguese.
Matt Doherty said: “They can expect good training sessions. We’re going to have to work hard. I think they’ll see he’s quite hands-on the training pitch. He’s going around, giving little bits of advice to players, what he likes to see, what he wants to see from them. It’ll be a tough pre-season but it won’t be unbearable. His backroom staff, they know exactly what they’re doing so they’ll push us to the limit and just when we feel like we’re about to fall down they’ll give us our rest day or our afternoon off and we’ll able to recharge our batteries. We’ve got a long pre-season ahead of us but he’ll have us in shape by the first game of the season.”
On his own attitude to pre-season,
Matt Doherty added: “I think at the start of my career I was dreading [pre-season] but I think that’s because at the start you’re much younger and you don’t do any training in the summer time, you do what you want so you’re coming back completely empty of any legs in you or any energy at all. The older you get, you start to do a bit more, you look after yourself a bit more and now I quite look forward to it. I know some people had six weeks off, I had four. It’s quite a long time to be off so by the end of you’ve had your holidays and your rest time and you want to get back to work. You’re dying to get back on the pitch.”
At Wolves, only Trent Alexander-Arnold had created more chances from right-back in the Premier League over the two seasons Doherty spent in the Premier League with Wolves. Doherty admitted that last season, he did not show the best of himself for a number of reasons. The Irishman’s best game of the season came at its very end as he impressed in the 4-2 victory at Leicester City that helped Spurs finish seventh.
Matt Doherty said: “I want to play as many games as I can [this coming season]. I want to contribute in a positive way as much as I can. Obviously I didn’t feel I gave my best last season for different reasons, but I’m feeling pretty positive, getting a full pre-season under my belt and see what I can do and where we can take this season. There were a few little reasons where last season I was in the team and then I had COVID and came out. I struggled to get back in really. I just had a little loss of form and at times I was struggling to regain that as well. Little things weren’t going my way. I maintained my work ethic and I probably worked harder last year than I may ever have done before. I just wasn’t able to emulate that work on the pitch when I did get the opportunity. I under-performed. I realise that but I’m trying to get back into pre-season, get my form and get my fitness and confidence going and be ready for the first game of the season. I can’t wait for next season to start. You just can’t beat playing football. You get all the time off in the summer to do whatever you want to do but there’s no better feeling than putting your boots on and getting on to the grass and playing. For me and the players I’ve spoken to and the squad, the outlook in pre-season is pretty positive.”
