Vitor Pereira says his Wolves group is in a period of both change and growth, but the “true spirit” he saw against Manchester City shows they’re on the right track.
The Old Gold were punished for their mistakes against Pep Guardiola’s side, but had chances of their own at crucial points in the game, and that was an area of focus when reviewing the opening day for the head coach.
He has since welcomed Jackson Tchatchoua to the club, and ahead of the trip to AFC Bournemouth on Saturday, Pereira had confidence his side could compete well on the south coast, as Wolves search for their first points of the campaign.
On the arrival on Tchatchoua
“He is a fast winger, and he can play as a wing back. He has strength, he is powerful to attack the space, to create problems in the system that we play. He is available [for Bournemouth], he is working with the team. We'll see. It will be my decision tomorrow. He needs some time to understand what we need from him.”
On the squad working hard
“I believe that we'll have a good team. Of course, we are in a process of building a way to play, because we have different players this season. We lost some of them from the first 11 and it is time to rebuild things, the behaviours, the understanding to connect everybody.
“Of course, we know what we are doing. They are working very well, in the way that I like, and because of that, I'm positive. I'm not afraid of work, I'm not afraid of the future. I'm a confident person. I have confidence in my players, in the club, in the supporters, and we'll do it together. It’s about connecting everybody, the club, the city, the supporters, and together we can make magic. This is my opinion. This is what I believe in.”
On improving on Man City
“A lot of things. If you look at the game, we did good things. Every week, against all the opponents we look to understand what we did well and what we must correct, and we did a lot of things well, but when we commit a mistake against these top players, of course they score. They had five shots on target and scored four goals. This is not something that happens a lot. We went too many times to the last line, the last pass, the last cross and missed a movement, a touch, but we had our chances to score.
“What I watched in my team was the true spirit. The players were brave, they tried to press when we had chance to press, we tried to create problems, and we created problems, but we didn't score. I know that this is a time to suffer a bit. This is not an easy time, but I can see the future. I can see what we need, what we want to be as a team.”
On the south coast on Saturday. ⏳ pic.twitter.com/fFe6aBeBln
— Wolves (@Wolves) August 21, 2025
On Bournemouth’s threat
“We played against them last season two times with me, in the cup and in the league. This is a brave team. They have an identity, they are strong and have good players, but it is about us. Bournemouth will play in their style, with their players, with identity, with bravery for sure, putting intensity on the game, because I remember the games there. It’s about what we must do to improve as a team, to improve individually, from the last game we can correct some mistakes that we did, and this is the process. It is about working hard to be better and better.
“I believe tomorrow will be a very tough game, because in the way that they play, they create a lot of problems to the opponents, but when I look for the qualities that we have in our team, we can create problems too. It will be a tough game, but we go there to compete for the three points. We can go there to compete, for sure, and this is what I want to see in my team.”
