Vitor Pereira believes his Wolves players are already showing ‘true spirit’ after the new head coach achieved three points away at Leicester City on his opening game in charge of the team.
Despite only arriving at Compton Park on Thursday, Wolves dominated the Foxes to leave the King Power Stadium with three goals in a stunning first half display. The Old Gold also kept a first clean sheet away from Molineux since January – something the Portuguese was not surprised about, given how he likes his teams to have a solid base which they can build from.
On his team’s showing at Leicester
“To be here, I cannot explain. I started as a coach when I was 29 and I am now 56, so it means that it’s been a long, long journey to come here and it’s a privilege.
“It was very good spirit. A true spirit, which is what I want from this team. What I asked from them, is that at the end of the game we must feel proud about the work that we did and make proud our supporters, and I’m very happy for this.
“Of course, we need to improve a lot of things, but the true spirit was there, and this is most important for me.”
On keeping a clean sheet
“Usually, my teams don't concede a lot of goals. I want a team with balance, with quality in the possession, with intention, because my game has intentions.
“But I want a team that are able to play in possession, to play in the counter attack, to defend higher, and in moments that we need to defend, do it higher, but they need to understand the moments to go and the moments to wait in a block; median or low block. It means that there is tactical intelligence.”
On players learning his system in three days
“The experience I have, I have worked as a coach for a long time, so I know very well the system, the extras, how to play it, the spaces that we should cover, the spaces that we can exploit, and in three days, I tried to organise them with a simple communication.
“We didn't do a lot, but we improved what we wanted. They tried and they played a good game today.
“I have the experience to go and direct the main things. I understand that we didn’t have much time for my training, but we directed the training with tactical organisation, and then tried to give confidence to them – my confidence, the confidence that I have.
“I think the team performed well, and I'm happy. I'm happy, but we need to improve each day and we need to improve each game. It means the direction of the training must be a good direction – with simple communication, but give them the triggers to understand what we want to do, with the ball and without the ball.”
On the support of the Wolves fans
“It was fantastic because alone, we cannot win. We need the supporters, we need the club, we need everybody. We must be committed and united to improve. I want to improve the team and they will improve in possession, because I don't like a team just to play in counter attack, but for today, it was good.
“I’m encouraged by the team and by the supporters too. They are fantastic. I know the efforts that they did to come here, but together, I think we can do something special.”
On facing Man United at Molineux on Boxing Day
“It will be a fantastic game, for sure, and a privilege for me. For me, this is the best league in the world, and it’s been a long, long journey to arrive here, but now I'm where I want to be.”
On what Wolves fans can expect from his team
“Ambition, organisation and confidence. A lot of confidence. Without confidence, we cannot improve. We need to be our best version of ourselves.”