Vítor Pereira took his first training session and press conference in England today, having been announced as new boss of Wolverhampton Wanderers on Thursday afternoon.
Pereira has signed an 18-month deal at Molineux to replace Gary O’Neil, who was sacked earlier this week with the team five points from safety in the Premier League. Pereira left his role at Saudi Arabian club Al Shabab to fulfil a long-term ambition of managing in the English top flight.
Pereira took training on Friday morning before facing the media for the first time in the afternoon. In a coaching career which was propelled by back-to-back Portuguese titles with FC Porto, Pereira has coached across the world, taking in stints in Saudi Arabia, Greece, Türkiye, Germany, China and Brazil.
The 56-year-old was asked what attracted him to the job at Wolves, who made him their third Portuguese manager, following in the footsteps of the highly successful Nuno Espírito Santo, now of Nottingham Forest, as well as current Benfica boss Bruno Lage.
“Because it’s the Premier League, and in my opinion the Premier League is the best league in the world,” Pereira said. “It’s something that’s been my target for a long time. It means that I’m in the right place with the top, elite level players, elite level managers, elite level organisation. And I’m very happy to be here.
“I think all of [my experiences around the world will help me here] because they were different levels of players, different levels of leagues. It’s important and now I’m sure all of it will help me to do my job.
“I’m very happy with my first impressions of the players. Of course every team can improve, we will try and we will improve for sure. It’s important to get the confidence again. Results will bring the confidence, motivation, we’ll give them clear ideas of what we want from them.”
Famous during recent times for their Portuguese contingent, Wolves currently have six of Pereira’s countrymen on the first-team books: goalkeeper José Sá, defenders Toti Gomes and Nélson Semedo, as well as attackers Rodrigo Gomes, Carlos Forbs and Gonçalo Guedes. Semedo was recently named captain, with Pereira asked if the decision would stand under him.
“Nélson is a very good boy, good personality,” Pereira replied. “Now I’ll try to understand who are the leaders on the pitch which is important, the personalities. I’m studying, it’s not time to decide, it’s time to study, to get the information and then I will decide who are the captains.”
Wolves have the worst defensive record in the Premier League with 40 goals conceded in their 16 matches so far. Having recently suffered four straight defeats, the team are in clear need of fresh ideas and Pereira insists developing a new blueprint will be his focus across the coming weeks.
“Before I accepted the job, me and my staff studied the team. We need to improve some aspects of the game, but we have good players. With confidence, a player can change everything. In this moment, my idea is to create a tactical identity. In our first training, we started to work for this identity, this game module. With a very clear communication, we begin the steps to increase this idea and make players comfortable in the roles.
“It’s a responsibility, but it’s a good responsibility. Now it’s time to give confidence to them, to guide them like a GPS…a tactical GPS. To put them in the same direction, to connect them. And to play with courage. This is what I want. Tactical quality, technical quality, because I like my teams to play good football, but with tactical organisation and courage to play our game.
“What I want is after some time, you will see Wolves playing the game of Wolves. When you see Wolves playing, you see a style of play, an intention of play.”
Pereira’s first match in charge will be Sunday’s trip to fellow strugglers Leicester City, before a mouthwatering clash against fellow Portuguese Rúben Amorim and Manchester United in his first home match on Boxing Day.
By @SeanGillen9
