The Portuguese midfielder, who came minutes away from joining Tottenham from Porto back in 2012, knows it’s going to be a tough challenge for Wolves after coming back from Thursday’s Europa League second leg in Barcelona, but insists that his teammates will be trying their hardest to bring the three points back to Wolverhampton.
On winning in the Premier League
“We tried hard to win the last match against Norwich. They have a good team, they are bottom of the league, but they have good team, with good players, a good coach, so we knew it would be a tough game, but I thought we did a really good job.
“We controlled the game and created a lot of opportunities to score. We scored three and this is good for us because we’re training every day to improve and to be better and we showed that by responding well on the pitch.”
On a first visit to Spurs
“It is my first trip to Tottenham, and I hope it’s a good first trip. Of course, we’re going to play against a very good team with a very good manager who knows what he needs to be done for every match, but we have our ideas, the coach has the ideas and tries to transmit these to us.
“We try to do our best to put those ideas onto the pitch and win the match and that’s what we’re going to try the next game against Tottenham and we hope it’s enough to win the match and bring the three points for us.”
On nearly joining Spurs
“It’s true, but it was some years ago. It didn’t happen, but now I’m here in Wolverhampton where I feel at home.
“I try to help the team to achieve the goals and to win every match and the next one is against Tottenham. It’s a good team but we’re going to do what we do in every match – we try to do our best and win the match.”
On Jose Mourinho’s legacy
“He is iconic. He’s going to be for all the time for what he’s already achieved, and also what he wants to achieve, because he’s not satisfied.
“Mourinho is not satisfied with what he has, he wants something more and more and more, and I think it’s the mentality we all need to be better and to do a better job.
“That’s my mentality; to do my best every training session, every week, every month, every game, because if you think like that you can achieve what you want.
“Of course, sometimes it’s not possible, but with this mentality you’re going to achieve a lot of things.”
On Conor Coady’s 100th consecutive league appearance
“It’s amazing. He’s a very good player, a very good person and an amazing captain. He helps all the players, and this is important for us. It’s the captain that makes us like a group.
“It’s an amazing mark, what he has done, what he has achieved and what is good is that he’s not satisfied, he wants to continue to help the team, to help the players, to help his teammates.
“I’m enjoying playing with him a lot and I think I can speak for all my teammates when I say everyone enjoys playing with him.”
