Vitor Pereira says a positive start to life as Wolves head coach has helped spread confidence at Compton Park.
In the space of five days Pereira led the Old Gold to victories over Leicester City and Manchester United, with clean sheets picked up in both and five goals scored. That six-point haul has lifted Wolves out of the drop zone and, as he tries to implement his ideas on the group, he can see the confidence increasing after each result.
On a perfect start
“To change in a short time and to get these results is difficult. It's difficult to predict, I believe that my players have quality, and I believe that our work will impact them. We don't have time to work on the pitch, but when you give the confidence to them, and they feel this confidence, this power inside of them, it can change everything.
“If you get the results, they start to believe in the manager, in the idea. They start to feel as a team, they start to feel confidence in their teammates and this is what is happening now. But in football, a lot of things can change in a game or in a minute.
“In the recovery time we'll try to prepare for this [Tottenham] game. It's difficult, but I think it's possible. I don't like a team facing games just to defend. I like to let my teams play good football, with the ball and without the ball, and with courage, this is the team that I want to see in the Tottenham game.”
On facing Postecoglou
“I appreciate him a lot because we competed in Asia. He was the manager of Yokohama F. Marinos, and I was the manager of Shanghai SIPG in China. We played in the Asian Champions League two or three times. He’s a manager with different ideas, very offensive ideas, but it’s a team that can score a lot of goals. It means that we need to be at our best level to compete with this team. The next game will be very, very hard for us, but we must recover now and prepare for the game.
“In the games we faced each other there was only one ball on the pitch, and the ball was every time with the Yokohama Martinos, because in that time it was an incredible team, the style of game was, in my opinion, something special, different. Now we really face together here in England, the world of football, the country of football.”
Another step in the right direction 💪 pic.twitter.com/TyJxIjHTxu
— Wolves (@Wolves) December 26, 2024
On Hwang’s goal providing confidence
“It was very important because he's a player with high quality, and I think he can score a goal from nothing. If he gets this confidence, he can give us a lot.”
On the style he’s implementing
“I want to win games, but by playing good football. Football, for me, is not just about results. It’s about having an idea, believing in that idea, and making others believe in the way I'll play. It means that in this moment I'm trying to create an identity, but it's not the style of Vitor, it’s the style of Wolverhampton.
“It’s something that we need to embrace as our game, our style, we will show our style. We'll show our spirit. The way that I like to play is something that comes from 15 years of working and correcting things and understanding the details and creating exercises to play in that way. Of course, we need to win, but win in style.”
On what he requires from the players
“When we have the ball, we must prepare for the moment that we will lose the ball. We must have the positional game to react to the moment we lose the ball. We need to be ready to attack the zone of the ball when we lose the ball. If it's not possible to win the ball in defensive transition, we must know, which is why football is intelligent. The tactical culture is very important.
“We must understand if it's not possible to win the ball in that moment, we will organise ourselves. We come to have a block. It’s not a transition, it’s defensive organisation in offensive work. We must understand that when we pass the next step, we win the ball, what we'll do with the ball. The other team come to press us, or we have space to go out of the of pressure. Where are the spaces? And this is another step.
“It means that the intention is to go fast on the counter attack, but if it's not possible, keep the ball and we are in another phase of the game, we start our offensive organisation. It means that the team must know the different moments of the game, and this is our work.”
