The visitors had shaded proceedings at Molineux in the opening period, and struck the woodwork twice, but Wolves dug in, grew into the game and bagged three crucial points thanks to Adama Traore’s winner. The head coach highlighted the clean sheet as the most pleasing aspect of his team’s work, and now wants the same mentality from his players each week for the remainder of the season.
On a crucial win at Molineux
“Always the three points are very, very important. In the last match against Liverpool, we couldn’t get any points, and we were disappointed, but today we are very happy. I have to be honest to highlight the Tottenham work, in the first half they overcame us for me clearly. The second half we came better, we tried to work on the difficulties.
“In the end we won, but it was a very balanced match, very hard, as are all the matches in the Premier League. That’s what I want to highlight to the team in the bad moments, it’s important to keep going, keep working, and think of the next match. We have a lot of points ahead of us to get.
“We have played against one of the best teams in the Premier League. I am happy with the reaction of the team and with their resilience in the bad moments, because we have had a bad moment in the first half when they pushed us a lot, but we were able to overcome this bad moment with fantastic work, so I am happy.”
On turning the game around
“Always the football is for the players. The manager, we want to help them and sometimes we help and sometimes we don’t help. This is true. That’s why I prefer to highlight the resilience and the mentality of the players. They have kept going with this mentality and continue because today it’s three points.
“Three days ago, we were really sad, today we are happy, and we have in front of us a lot of very difficult matches. We are now thinking about Newcastle who are one of the best teams in the Premier League, so this mentality has to continue.”
Celebrating a great afternoon's work.
— Wolves (@Wolves) March 4, 2023
🙌 pic.twitter.com/VilAEheL6V
On a pleasing winning moment
“I’m pleased with any goal, of any player of Wolverhampton, of course. It was a very good goal, but the most important thing is the clean sheet. For the manager, it’s special when any players score for Wolverhampton. That’s all.”
On the substitutes having an impact
“In the last matches, we have made the changes with good intentions, and they didn’t work, but today they worked. This is the credit of the players because you always have a reason to make a change, but whether it was a good or bad decision depends on the player sometimes. That is why I would highlight the credit of the players and the team. Fortunately, we scored and we made a good second half against a good team and in the end we are happy.”
On a crucial clean sheet
“It’s key. The clean sheet is the platform to be able to achieve your aims. It allows you to score one goal and win. Of course, it’s not easy, against players like Harry Kane, Kulusevski, Son, Richarlison, Moura – it’s credit to the players, they have resistance, they were strong with their mentality. Fortunately, we scored a very good goal and continue.
“All I look at is the next match and that’s the only way I know to be able to compete in each match. Today we competed against a fantastic team and the next match, we are going to compete against one of the best teams. It’s all about the competitiveness of us and we have to be ready.”
