Ahead of Wolves’ final Premier League outing of the year as they look to get out of the relegation zone against Manchester United at Molineux, the Portuguese admitted he and his teammates were unable to display their quality so far this season, but he is optimistic that life under Julen Lopetegui will see their fortunes turn.
On playing at the World Cup
“It was good. Everyone dreams of being at a World Cup, but the results made it a little but frustrating. There was a feeling that we could have done more and reached further, but it was an amazing experience to be there.”
On improving into 2023
“I put more pressure on myself because I want to be the best, but I don’t think I did enough. I have the hunger now to get to where I want to be.
“I want to be better than I was in the last six months, and I think these first six months of 2023 are going to be better individually for me. I have that in my mind and I’m pretty sure that I’m going to show that.”
On early season struggles
“I don’t think we found a good balance. We have amazing players, I think that’s clear for everyone, but we didn’t show our quality.
“Our team wasn’t as intense as it should be, we got tired really quickly in the games, but I don’t think changing the manager helped us either. We also didn’t get the momentum we wanted as we would win a game and then lose or draw, and that didn’t help.
“But now, with the new coach and the new environment, I think we have the chance to get there. We can get better from here.”
On Wolves under Lopetegui
“It’s been really good. Not only now, but I was also talking to them when I was at the World Cup and everyone was giving good feedback. Now I’m seeing it, everything is so much different.
“The staff, the environment, everybody seems much happier, the environment with the players and the new coaches has been really good and everything has been different; the training, the intensity, the treatment of the players, and everything is much higher and better.”
The boss' reaction. On repeat. 🔄 pic.twitter.com/HTCublgIsS
— Wolves (@Wolves) December 28, 2022
On working on his fitness
“Mentally, I think I’m ready because since the last day of the World Cup, I wanted to come back to Compton to train straight away, but physically, I had to wait until my best terms.
“Out there [in Qatar], we weren’t training as hard we are training here in Wolverhampton because at the World Cup you are playing every three days, so you have to just rest between games, but here, we’ve had a full week and the training was much more intense.
“The intensity was a lot higher, so physically, I still have to come back in my own terms because mentally I am there.”
On the busy Christmas period
“It’s been different because we don’t have this in Portugal. Normally, we’ll always have the time with our families, but this year we are travelling.
“Usually in Portugal, we don’t have to think about it and we can relax more, but this year it’s been more controlled and we have to try and not eat as much! But it’s exciting to be playing during Christmas.”
