Julen Lopetegui insists his players’ mentality must be right for all of Wolves’ remaining nine matches, starting on Saturday against Chelsea.
Wolves face back-to-back Molineux fixtures, knowing a positive return haul could ease the pressure on the battle against Premier League relegation. Any points would be achieved without Ruben Neves, who is suspended after collecting ten yellow cards, and as Lopetegui prepares to lock horns with Frank Lampard once again, he’s putting all his attention on his own side and their game plan.
On nine cup finals remaining
“The only way I know to play in this situation is to only look at the next match. Step by step for the next match. Think of the next and the next is Chelsea. We put the focus 100 per cent only on this match, not thinking of the next matches.
“It’s about the balance and quality of the Premier League. You have a lot of quality in a lot of teams. You have to be ready, above anything, with your mentality. Be ready to arrive until the end, fighting and doing your best. This is our aim and I think it’s the only way I know to be ready to achieve our aims.”
On missing Neves through suspension
“We know the kind of player Ruben is for us, but he’s going to be out for two matches. We have to find solutions, we have to trust in other players, and to be ready to prepare the match with other players. Who is going to play in his position, we will see. Of the ten yellow cards, we were here for four I think. This is part of the season, we have to find one other solution.
“Fortunately, Hee Chan [Hwang] recovered this week. The rest we don’t have updates.”
On the current form
“It’s not easy to win in the Premier League for any team. We are fighting to be out of the relegation zone since I came here, and we are going to continue fighting in each match, trying to arrive in the end out of the relegation. This is our aim, but it’s going to be very hard and long race for a lot of teams.
“We have to be ready, knowing that in the middle we’ll have good moments and bad moments. We have to always improve things when we’ve won, and when we’ve lost even more, but putting the focus on each match as a challenge, a chance, and we're looking forwards.”
On embracing the challenge
“This is the reality of the situation. When we came here, we were trying to have this chance, in these nine matches. Now we have this challenge, we have to be ready one by one, putting the focus on Chelsea. Maybe you can have a positive score, maybe not, and you have to be ready for the next.
“When you have a bad moment, you have to assess to be ready to beat the moment. Always experienced players are important to give their experience to the rest of the players, but it’s not about the individual.”
— Wolves (@Wolves) April 5, 2023
On Chelsea and Lampard
“First of all, I’m sorry for Graham Potter, but welcome to the new coach Frank Lampard. We have to put the focus on ourselves, our team. Chelsea’s is maybe one of the best squads in the world, top players in all the positions, a lot of top players. Of course, it’s a new coach, we don’t know if he’s going to change anything or not, but it’s not under our control. We have to put the focus on our work.”
On facing Lampard in his first Premier League game
“It’s very different, it’s a new team, a new time. It’s the same coaches, Frank and me, but it’s a different moment, with different teams, so it’s going to be different.
“We don’t know what he wants to change, but we know the kind of players Chelsea have and, of course, the quality as a coach Frank has. We prefer to be ready, to have our game plan. We put the focus on our daily work, to be ready to play against one set up or a different set up against a fantastic team as Chelsea.
“I can’t lose a lot of time thinking what’s going to happen [to Chelsea’s team] because we don’t know. We have to be ready to do our best and try to be very close to perfection. If you want to play these kinds of matches, you have to be very close to perfection in all the facets of the play – the offensive and defensive please, set pieces, each little detail is going to be key so we have to be ready.”
