Nuno Espirito Santo’s right-hand man Rui Pedro Silva could never be accused of lacking confidence if his self-assessment upon finally joining West Ham is anything to go by.
When Nuno Espirito Santo took charge of West Ham last September, he did so believing David Sullivan and Karren Brady would bring in his longstanding assistant and close friend Rui Pedro Silva.
The pair have worked together at six different clubs and Silva is regarded as the tactical brain behind Nuno’s success stories – some of which included leading Wolves to the Championship title in 2018 and then into Europe before taking Nottingham Forest to within a whisker of the Champions League.
But after arriving at the London Stadium it soon became apparent that Sullivan would not shell out compensation to re-assemble Nuno’s preferred backroom team in east London.
Confident Silva says he is the missing link for West Ham
Instead Nuno had to work with what he had at the club, promoting youth and development team coaches.
Results did not improve and West Ham were cut adrift by eight points at the turn of the year.
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It was then Nuno went out and brought in out-of-work former Ibiza boss Paco Jemez.
The no-nonsense Spaniard became a massive hit with players and fans alike and West Ham were officially the sixth best team in the Premier League from his arrival in mid-January to the end of the season.
The Hammers missed out on survival by a solitary win in the end and Jemez has since departed.
Within weeks of Sullivan and Brady resigning, new Hammers chief Daniel Kretinsky and interim CEO Karim Virani ensured Nuno finally got his man in Rui Pedro Silva.
And Nuno’s supremely confident right-hand man Silva says he is the missing link for West Ham.
Silva, who has been a manager in his own right too, says he believes he fills in the gaps in Nuno’s armoury, suggesting he could have been the difference-maker in West Ham avoiding the drop and will be in their bid for promotion back to the big time.
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West Ham’s new assistant head coach has already shown the players who is boss by barking orders and demanding more in footage from training published by the club.
Now he has made it clear he believes he is what West Ham have been missing.
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And Silva insists that, like Jemez, he is no ‘yes man’ for Nuno.
“I think we know each other really well to know when to talk about things, when to step out, where he needs my (input, because) sometimes he needs me to fill in the gaps,” Silva told West Ham’s website.
“So I think that’s the main reason why (Nuno pushed to bring me to West Ham).
“And then the knowledge about the football that we know about each other, I think we have got the same ideas, the same thoughts, so I think that’s why it works so well…
“I think it’s very important (the relationship between manager and assistant manager). I have got experience as a manager as well. I think it brings me the understanding of the coach sometimes, because it’s a very lonely position.
“Sometimes the relationship between us, it’s so important to give my thoughts and to know where to give them, to say ‘no’, to say ‘yes’, where we change it or not. I think this kind of understanding between me and him, it’s very important.”
Jemez felt like a huge loss for the Hammers this summer.
But the way Silva is talking, it may soften that blow and then some.
You only need look at the reaction of Wolves and Forest fans to Silva’s move from Molineux to the London Stadium to see how well respected he is at his former clubs.
They almost unanimously believe Silva’s arrival all but guarantees West Ham will win the Championship title this season.
Given his supreme self-confidence, Silva would undoubtedly agree.
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