Tweaks in style and system have been visible in Wolves’ opening three Premier League fixtures and they’ve enjoyed varying levels of success. A flawless showing at Sheffield United was followed by back-to-back defeats, but there is no panicking in the camp, with everyone working towards one goal – to try to improve.
On adjusting to the new season
“We should look at some aspects. We started the season with a very small squad, a lot of players were involved in national teams, and due to the pandemic, the schedule and the fixtures have changed.
“The international breaks didn’t quite make sense, we didn’t have the players at the beginning, and they played very competitive games with their national teams. They returned and started to prepare what was in front of us; playing, training and at the same times breaks – it’s realising all these things, realising what was in front of us, and knowing how to assess it and how we are moving forward. This is how we work.
“We don’t work under fear, we work with a confidence that we want to do things right because making a decision requires a lot of time, a lot of dialogue, a lot of involvement in all the things from the player, what we want, the time, all these things we have to think about, it takes time to decide well, and making things that the player can improve and going back to that level. This is what we look at.”
On Coady’s new contract
“It means a lot, it shows the commitment that the club and Conor have, knowing where we started and where we want to go. It requires an agreement of everybody, so I’m delighted that Conor’s going to stay here for a while.
“He’s improved a lot. He had to deal in the first moment with the change of position on the pitch, and I think he adapted very well. He committed himself to that new position, to the way and how we wanted to do things, and he’s played a big part in the performance of the team.
“He himself improved a lot of aspects of his game, but at the same time, there are still things that he has to improve, and we have time to do it because he’s committed to it, he understands what we want.
“We can see a little bit ahead, so that’s a big help for a manager, having the players understand what we have inside our minds, regarding the lines of the ball, the shape of the team, and Conor’s highly committed to it, so it’s a big help.”
The captain on the fans 💛 pic.twitter.com/o4dGWUOvlC
— Wolves (@Wolves) October 1, 2020
On no rest for Coady
“Let things happen and let’s see how Coady deals with the situation, but I don’t anticipate any kind of change. You have to realise when your players go away with their national teams, when they come back is when you do the proper assessment.
“Knowing what kind of training sessions they were involved in, their style, and the minutes he’s involved in games, this can affect the decisions for the next one. First of all, I’m delighted and proud that now we can say, unfortunately, we don’t have players to work next week, it’s going to be three or four players and it’s a big step as a club.”
On how he can improve
“I can show you how we never used him in our offensive set-pieces, and Southgate, during the game in England, put him there and that gave me the idea that maybe you could use him, because he’s a good header. But he didn’t touch the ball – so that’s a step more.
“It’s small details that I think that we can find. It’s about finding the right details that can change things in a player and we’re obsessed about that, because I truly believe that there is always a space for improvement.”
