A striker obsessed with scoring, Jimenez followed up his first goal back against Al-Shabab with the equaliser against Stoke City on Saturday, but rather than revelling in the celebration, now has his mind fixed on the next one. The Mexican is nearing the end of a thoroughly productive pre-season following his serious head injury, and has heaped praise on new head coach Bruno Lage for the impact he’s made so far.
On thinking about that first goal at Molineux
“I have been thinking about that, but if I’m honest, when I scored the penalty [his first back against Al-Shabab], I felt good, I felt really good, it was amazing to score again, but I felt like, ‘OK, I scored, now I score again’, like before. I felt really good, but not like amazing, but it was really, really good.”
On managing pre-season so far
“I think we are preparing ourselves for the tournament, the season. At the beginning it’s hard, it’s difficult to get the pace, to resist all those minutes, because it has been a long time, for me especially, seven months, then one month off on holidays, and now I come back again, start going, so it has been hard, but I think we are getting there.”
On getting to know Lage
“It’s good, this is football, the time passes and the players, the coaches, the managers, we all change, we’re not going to be here forever, so having a new manager, knowing him, I have been here since pre-season started, so I think we have now a good relationship.
“Every time he wants to speak with us, he wants to be really close to us, he always wants to know how we are, what we need to improve, and how we feel comfortable. So, that’s good from him and we feel comfortable with him to do that.”
On one-on-ones with the new manager
“I have been in touch with him every time that I feel something, or he feels something about me, or about the team, he comes to me and I’m there.
“Even if I need something, he’s there for me, so it was really good to have those conversations with him, since the beginning, when I arrived here for pre-season, it was like, ‘OK, we are going to take care of you, now that you are starting, the pre-season is for you, to get used to it, and then we go again.’ So, it was good.”
RJ9 feeling the 💛 from the pack.
— Wolves (@Wolves) August 3, 2021
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On adapting to his style of play
“It’s different, because every manager has their own opinion, their style to play, to see the game. So, at the end, we are footballers, that’s what we like to do, we have to adapt, and we know what we’re doing well.
“We’re playing football in a different way, but at the end it’s football, and we have to adapt, to learn what he wants, and put it on the pitch.”
On wearing the head guard
“You have to get used to it. The first time it was difficult. Now we have the one that I have been training with, and playing with, it’s like a prototype and now we have some different specifications to make it better, and now it’s just a matter of time to arrive, the new one.
“It’s going to be the one that I have to use in the season and all the games. So, it was difficult at the beginning, but then you get used to it, and even I like it now.”
