Vitor Pereira has revealed some of the difficult, but honest, conversations he’s had with his Wolves players in recent weeks as looked to find the right direction to earn a first Premier League win of the campaign.
With at least two players competing for every position this season, Pereira has been forced to make difficult decisions when it comes to leaving senior players out of his matchday squad, but the head coach believes the ‘very good group’ of professionals that he has at his disposal have been understanding of his thinking as he tries different ways to claim three points – even if they might not agree with him.
As Wolves host Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday, Pereira will be faced with another selection headache, as well as being forced to decide whether to stick with a back four which he started in the Carabao Cup win over Everton and in the first half of last weekend’s league draw with Tottenham Hotspur, or to revert to a five-man defence. But the way his players are beginning to build connections on the pitch, Pereira knows those bonds are going to be vital if Wolves are to claim a much-coveted top flight victory.
On feeling confident in his squad
“To feel confidence inside of me, I need to control the situation. It’s not to bet in the lottery, it’s not to go there [to a match] and ‘ok, we'll see’.
“Now, I’ve started to feel this confidence and I’ve started to understand that my players know what we are demanding. They know what to do, and we can do better. We can increase. But this is the confidence that I need to feel inside of me to give the confidence to my players.”
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On increasing the on-pitch connections
“When you start a new in a different club with a new manager, firstly, you try to understand the information. When your focus is on the information or on the tactical things, you cannot express yourself, and they feel very worried to do what you are demanding.
“But now they know what they should do tactically, and the connection between them is very important. If we go to play together, and I don't know you and you don't know me, I don't know if you are fast or if you are slow, I don't know if you want the ball to feet or in the space, I don't know if you prefer to play outside or inside.
“If I don't have this connection with you, because I haven’t worked with you before, it's difficult. But now they are in a moment where they can start to express themselves.”
On new signings needing time to adapt
“If you come from a different league; for example, Jhon, he came from Fluminense, he played five or six years in Fluminense, he knows the Brazilian league very well, it’s a different culture, different teammates, different language, and he arrives in Wolverhampton.
“Wolverhampton, the Premier League, the language, the teammates, the connection on the pitch, the connection with the manager, what I’m asking him to do, what I need from him, the league is physically different, tactically different, the intensity of the games are different, to buy a house for the family to feel comfortable – it’s a lot.
“This is not just Jhon Arias, I’m talking about all of them. Just the last weeks, I felt that I’m building something. I’m building a team, I’m building an identity, and the [new] players are in conditions to express themselves and to prove why we selected them to come here.”
On having a squad fighting for a starting spot
“If you are my player and you are working hard, of course, I have some conversations with you because you deserve that I say to you that, ‘ok, you are competing, and the chance will come, for sure. We'll need you maybe to start, or maybe to go there after from the bench, but I'm very happy with your work. Keep going, keep going, keep going’.
“And from the others that were playing before, but we didn't get results, I’ve had conversations with everybody and I said that I need to find solutions. I need to give some stability to the players that won the game against Everton.
“In this position, because we are struggling, we are fighting and we need points. We need to get results. This is football. That’s why I say we cannot offer the shirts. You must deserve the shirt, you must fight for your position every day.”
On a positive dialogue between head coach and players
“I had a conversation with everybody to explain the reasons why I would change, because we need this and this and this, because we are trying to get results. I'm trying to find solutions. I will change the system to show them that I'm trying to find a balance between my ideas and the players that I have in this moment.
“To prove to them that the players who I put on the pitch and with decisions that I make, I'm trying to be fair, every day. Sometime I know I'm not, but for a player, if you are working well, your chance would come, and with the decisions that I made, the message to them is, if everyone is in condition, if you work hard every day, you are in my list and I'm looking at your work and I believe that in one day, the players that are not playing now in the first 11, they will have the chance to play again.
“I have a very good group of players. I don't have any problems with the players and we talk honestly, eyes on eyes, and we explain the decisions. Of course, sometimes they don't understand because they think they are better than the other one, but this is their opinion and I have my opinion, and I need to decide.”
The Official Wolves Podcast delve into Andre's recent performances.
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On Wolfe’s lack of game time
“He is one of the players that is fighting for his position in the best way. He is showing that he has quality, but Hugo [Bueno] is playing in a good level. It all depends, because if he keeps going with this work and he expresses himself and proves himself every day, then one day, he will have his chance to play, for sure.
“He’s a bit shy. Some players arrive in another world, and it’s like they were living here from a previous life, but for other players who come from different leagues, and the Dutch league is a different league, so you need some adaptation here. But now is the time for him to express himself, and he is doing this in the way that I like – not with words, but on the pitch.”
On a need for three points this weekend
“I need a beer! If you go for a beer after a defeat, believe me, the beer is not the same. If you go for a beer after a good result, it is different – you go to with the happiness.
“A beer is not what I’m talking about, because when I go for a beer, I go to talk with my friends. I go to talk not only about football, but to talk and have conversations and forget a little bit about football.
“If you go without happiness inside, I don’t prefer. Sometimes I go out [to a pub] to watch a game, but I need the results to feel the enjoyment of the beer.”
