Six weeks without Premier League football means the Spaniard can work with his players for an extended period of time, learning about them and passing on his message, before fixtures and the January transfer window come around. Neves himself is in Qatar with Portugal – one of five first-team players at the World Cup – but for the majority of the squad, fresh ideas will be implemented under the new regime, which the skipper believes will benefit the club when domestic football returns.
On the World Cup period at Wolves
“We’ll have a break from the Premier League now, which will be good for us. We’ll have time to work on different aspects with the new coach, so it’s an important period for the team. We can build something different again – it’s like a different season. We’ll try to work as much as we can to prepare for the rest of the season.
“The World Cup period will be important for the new manager too, because he can work with the team before we play games. It’s different from other seasons, but I think at the moment it will be a good thing for us.”
On the new head coach
“Everyone knows the name Julen Lopetegui because he’s coached at a lot of big teams and achieved great things in football, including winning the Europa League. For me personally, I’ve said before, he’s a special manager because he gave me my professional debut at 17, at my hometown club Porto.
“It was not common in Portugal at the time, giving young players opportunities. We’re looking forward to working with him, we know the way he works."
On the work of Steve and James
“Steve and James have been doing great work. It wasn’t easy to come to our team at that moment, we were not doing well, but they feel the club more than anyone. For me, it was the best decision to keep them until the club finds the best solution, because they know the club, they helped us a lot and listened to the players.
“It was important to get confidence and change a little bit. We are really thankful to them because we know how hard it’s been, but they’ve put 100 per cent into it and helped us a lot.”
On the need for points
“At the moment, it’s really important for us to get wins, and after the Brighton game, I was really happy for the team that we went through in the Carabao Cup. But we need to try and stop going up and down again, we need to stabilise ourselves, which I think is the most important thing.”
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— Wolves (@Wolves) November 11, 2022
On Boubacar getting his goal
“I was really happy for Boubacar. He’s working really hard. It’s not easy for him, coming from another country and not having great English, but we are trying to help him feel at home, like we do with every single player. He’s doing really well, he’s a really nice guy and a great player, and fortunately he gave us the win against Leeds.”
