Pre-season training | Week five round-up

3rd August 2024

As the 2024/25 Premier League season creeps ever closer, Wolves’ pre-season preparation continued out in America this week as Gary O’Neil’s side saw two competitive games on their schedule.

Having arrived in Miami earlier last week, the men’s first-team squad are now in the closing stages of their Stateside tour, as they spend just four more days across the pond before returning to Compton.

And wolves.co.uk has rounded up everything that has been going on out in the USA during what has been an action packed fifth week of pre-season.

Saturday 27th July

Following weeks of effort on the training ground, out in Marbella, and non-competitive matches against Como 1907 and Bristol City, the on-pitch action got underway last weekend, as Wolves began their Stateside Cup campaign against West Ham United.

Despite tropical thunderstorms which hit Jacksonville during the evening, leading to more than a two-hours delay to kick-off for safety reasons, Wolves continued their winning run to pre-season at the EverBank Stadium.

Reunited with former head coach Julen Lopetegui and captain Maximilian Kilman who are now part of the Hammers’ set-up, it was the players in gold and black who came out on top of the contest with their Premier League rivals.

Matheus Cunha and a Rodrigo Gomes brace saw Wolves claim the victory, in what was the first ever Stateside Cup game, before O’Neil and his players quickly returned to their Fort Lauderdale base after the game.

#Summer2024 #WolvesInUSA

Sunday 28th July

As is usually the case for the day after a match, the players were given a well-earned day off on Sunday, which allowed the squad to explore the surrounding area of their training camp down in Miami.

One group of players spent the day visiting the Everglades National Park, to watch alligators in their natural habitat and in the rescue centre exhibit.

Dan Bentley, Craig Dawson and Yerson Mosquera were among those present, spending time on the water at the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States.

Those who didn’t join in the trip to the Everglades instead spent time relaxing around the pool or took to the beach as the sun beamed down following the previous evening’s storms.

Monday 29th July

The new week began with the return of some familiar faces to the old gold squad, as Joao Gomes, Pedro Neto, Jose Sa and Nelson Semedo were back in training following their international duties throughout the summer.

Gomes was part of the Brazil team at the 2024 Copa America, while Semedo, Neto and Sa spent their summer in Germany as Portugal reached the quarter-finals of Euro 2024, before falling to France.

Having flown into Miami during the weekend, the quartet joined in training on Monday morning, while the squad were put through their paces in the gym during the afternoon.

While the players were hard at work, club legend and record goalscoerer Steve Bull, who is currently out with the squad in the US, spent some time touring Chase Stadium, the home of Inter Miami, where the final game of Wolves’ tour will take place on Saturday against RB Leipzig.

Tuesday 30th July

The midway point of Wolves’ US tour came on Tuesday, and with the players set to face Crystal Palace in their second Stateside Cup game the following day, it meant just a morning training session awaited the players.

After a flight to Baltimore during the afternoon, the majority of the squad and the coaching staff spent the evening turning their hand to a different sport as they were special guests at a Baltimore Orioles’ baseball match.

Right-back Matt Doherty took centre stage at Oriole Park at Camden Yards as the Irishman was given the honour of throwing the ceremonial opening pitch of the Orioles’ match with the Toronto Blue Jays.

After throwing the pitch, Doherty joined up with his teammates to watch the home side claim victory in the MLB contest.

Wednesday 31st July

Matchday two arrived on Wednesday, with the players having a bit of a rest in the morning ahead of the Stateside Cup concluding for Wolves later that evening.

Many of the squad who didn’t get as much game time against West Ham on Saturday played the majority of the clash with the Eagles, as the side from South London claimed a 3-1 victory.

Despite being arguably the better team, especially during the first-half, in which Rodrigo Gomes came close to opening the scoring before Pedro Lima had a goal ruled out for offside, it was Palace who took the lead at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis.

Wolves went two behind after the break, and despite Santi Bueno’s late goal, Palace were able to add a third before the final whistle, which leaves the overall result of the competition out of Wolves’ hands, with Palace set to face West Ham in the final match on Saturday.

Thursday 1st August

Following the match on Wednesday evening, and a late flight back to Fort Lauderdale, the players had the morning off before training got back underway during the afternoon.

However, the session was more of a recovery for those who took to the pitch in Annapolis, before preparations began for Saturday evening’s friendly against RB Leipzig.

Away from the first-team training pitch, the club has been carrying out several commercial activations while out in the States, with one of those being a soccer school where Wolves coaches have been giving their knowledge to young children out in Miami.

On Thursday, the group were joined by women’s first-team star Destiney Toussaint, who – after enjoying a tour of the sights Fort Lauderdale has to offer – headed along to the school to share her experiences with the participants.

Friday 2nd August

With Friday being ‘Matchday minus 1’ ahead of Wolves’ final friendly out in the US, it meant that it was just a morning training session for the players, who were allowed to have a bit of rest during the afternoon.

But back in the UK, Friday morning meant the release of the new 2024/25 SUDU away kit, which is now available to buy online via shop.wolves.co.uk, as well as in person as the Wolves Megastore.

However, Friday afternoon wasn’t a rest for all of the players out in Miami, as Nelson Semedo, Mario Lemina and Pedro Neto headed to the JD store in Florida’s Aventura Mall to reveal the kit in person for the first time.

The kit sees Wolves return to an all-black away kit, which features a subtle wolf head motif on the shirt, as well as branding from principal partner DEBET and official sleeve partner JD.

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“I took to the project, and I believe in it a lot. I will do everything for the fans.”

Matheus Cunha