Vitor Pereira was pleased with the battling spirit his players showed to fight until the end as Wolves walked away from Tottenham Hotspur with a draw thanks to Jorgen Strand Larsen’s late finish.
The head coach has picked up seven points from his opening three games in charge, but believes there is still plenty to improve as his team enter 2025 two points out of the relegation zone with half of the season remaining – although Pereira is confident his players have more than enough quality to push themselves out of danger.
On fighting back for a point
“First of all, in the Premier League, the atmosphere is fantastic, the stadiums are beautiful, and it’s something that I cannot explain, but what we feel, that is amazing. About the game, it was tough, a tough game.
“This [Tottenham] is a team who are very intensive, because they press a lot. In the first half, we had some problems to control the pressure, but we competed.
“Then in the second half, I think they dropped the block a little bit and we started to play a bit with the ball and started to create some problems. In the end, one point is not bad.”
The boss 🙌 pic.twitter.com/npz3eZWEsZ
— Wolves (@Wolves) December 29, 2024
On learning more about his players
“It was the first time with goals against. It was the first time that I saw the spirit to fight to turn over the result, and this is the spirit that I want. I'm very happy with them. We took a lot of risks and this week was a difficult week because we lost Toti injured, in the half time, Cunha had some problem in the hamstrings, so it means that this is not a squad with a lot of solutions, but the spirit and the players that went inside the pitch at half time, they helped and showed the true spirit of this team.
“Every time we have a lot of things to improve. I believe that when we will have time to work on the pitch, it is possible to have more possession and to control the game with the ball – I think this is something that we will increase with the level.
“But today, again, I'm proud of my players, because I saw the same spirit that I did in the other games, fighting, competing, personality, and in the second half, we scored to make it 2-2 and we had the chance to score to make it 3-2, but it was ok, and the result is a good result for us.”
On Hwang’s goal coming from the training ground
“It was the space that we had analysed from this team and we saw they concede this space, and we tried in the training and in the game. Sometimes we work a lot at something in training and it's not possible in the game, but today it was like a laboratory goal.
“We had two assistants directly studying the set-plays and they proposed the movement and they proposed the space – they do this every match, and this is their work. They asked me if I agree with the space, and I said to them, ‘I believe it can work’.”
A solid seven points from nine to end the year.
— Wolves (@Wolves) December 29, 2024
Thank you for your support today and throughout 2024. We'll see you in 2025 💛 pic.twitter.com/hQT1nmlxvt
On Cunha going off at half time
“I think it’s not serious, but he complained about some pain and I spoke with him, but he said to me, ‘Coach, it’s better to stay out’, so I respect the play.
“We have some players injured, we have Lemina injured, Traore, Toti and Sasa, but it’s not a big squad and it’s important that we are talking about going in the market. All the coaches want to go in the market, but I’m not a coach that wants a lot of players, I just want to be clinical and to help the team.”
On the relegation battle
“I truly believe that we'll stay in Premier League. If not, I would not have accepted the job. I believe in the players, I believe in the quality of the players, and I believe in our work, in our energy, in our strategical plans and I believe. I truly believe.”
