The winger combined brilliantly with fellow forwards Raul Jimenez and Morgan Gibbs-White as Wolves comfortably overpowered Deportivo Alaves by four goals in Alicante on Wednesday evening, and having now recovered from a serious knee injury which put him out for the majority of last season, Neto admits his confidence is at a high.
On an attacking showing against Alaves
“It was very good. We did good work. We are improving the things that we have been working on in training and in the friendlies that we had. We did a great job.
“We have more players up front. I think the way we played today showed the connection that we had. We are working very well, but we still have games to improve and we are still to organise some things.
“But we are going to do that, and we are trying our best to start the season very well.”
☝️ @pedrolneto7 with a deadly first-time finish! pic.twitter.com/Ryk3sRpWjj
— Wolves (@Wolves) July 20, 2022
On the forwards combining
“It’s easy to play with these players. We have quality players in front, and we always communicate to take the best of us. What we did, it was really good, but we’re still improving on that.
“The feeling comes during the game. Sometimes I speak with Morgan, sometimes I speak with Raul, sometimes I like to go to the right side so that I can come inside and combine with players. I have the ability to play on the right side as well as the left side, so it’s the same for me.
“For me, it’s the first pre-season [under Lage] and it’s a different system for me. Even the way that we played two years ago, it's different. So I am learning with him, I'm learning a lot.
“I am improving my game more in the middle. Two seasons ago I was always the guy that picked up the ball lower on the pitch and do some runs, but now I think it’s better because we have more opportunities in front and I can play more in the last third of the pitch and like we saw [against Alaves] we had a lot of opportunities to score.”
On recovering from his knee injury
“Honestly, I’m better than I thought. They were difficult times before but I finished the season well. I had more games than I was expecting and this summer I needed the break to get my knee back, to rest, and now I’m feeling very good.
“I think that my levels are rising and rising to be better than I was before.”
On getting back to his best
“It’s all about the confidence. It’s always difficult for a player who was out for 10 months to come on the pitch and think ‘oh it will hurt again’.
“But I want to enjoy every game that I have. I am improving a lot in my feelings, even in my freedom to play and my movements.
“The confidence is there and the personality that I have, I will do good this season. I will be back to my best and better.”
