Three months apart from wife and children has taken heavy toll
NUNO ANGUISH OVER LONE LIFE IN ENGLAND
WOLVES V CRYSTAL PALACE 8.15PM, BT SPORT 1
WOLVES boss Nuno Espirito Santo has revealed his private torment over life as a lone wolf.
Nuno, 46, has not seen his wife and three children since early May because they are ‘stranded’ in Portugal.
Life in lockdown is taking its toll as he prepares his side for tonight’s home clash against Crystal Palace.
He says that while he is a paid-up member of the mission to bring football back to the people, the whole situation is hitting him hard.
Asked how it had affected him mentally, Nuno’s voice quivered: “A lot – not only me but everybody.
“Those moments when we are quarantined at our homes gives you a lot of time to think and analyse. In these situations, some of us find our freedom has been restrained in a way nobody could understand.
“I want to visit my family but I cannot. It’s not just affecting football, it’s affecting life. Our freedom’s been really compromised.
“The world needs football and I hope it is helping, but this is not the football everybody wants. When you go to the stadium and you have all these protocols, there is a fear and you look on TV and see all the problems happening in the world, you cannot get away from that.”
While he accepts football’s return is for the greater good, he feels it comes at a price.
He said: “If football is helping people in their homes, this is the spirit of the mission that we have.
“But we are also affected by it. Nothing’s changed, but I am inside the industry and as an employee, I have my obligations. I prepare myself to do my job, but it doesn’t distract me from the whole situation. Hopefully it will improve, but if not it’s up to everyone to make decisions about how you want to live.”
Asked if he felt he had reached a crossroads, Nuno said: “Not just me, everybody. We are all anxious to understand and see what is coming. Are you not anxious to know that one day you can go back and do your job as normal?”
WOLVES (probable): Patricio; Boly, Coady, Saiss; Doherty, Moutinho, Neves, Dendoncker, Jonny; Podence, Jimenez. CRYSTAL PALACE (probable): Guaita; Ward, Dann, Sakho, Schlupp; McArthur, Kouyate, McCarthy; Townsend, Ayew, Zaha.