Wolves face Manchester United on Boxing Day – and it’ll be an all-Portuguese affair in the dugouts.
Vitor Pereira became Wolves’ new manager last week, replacing Gary O’Neil at the helm after results took another downturn.
Wolves prised Pereira away from Saudi Pro League club Al-Shabab, in what was something of a left-field appointment.
There had been no mention of Pereira until the day O’Neil got sacked, but fans are hoping he will now make a major impact on this struggling team.
And on Sunday, he got off to the perfect start by overseeing a 3-0 win over Leicester City.
Up next for Wolves is Manchester United on Boxing Day, who appointed a Portuguese manager recently in the form of Ruben Amorim, who has been speaking about his positive number today.
Amorim says Pereira is ‘a very good coach’ who ‘knows big clubs’
Vitor Pereira, Manager of Wolverhampton Wanderers, reacts during the Premier League match between Leicester City FC and Wolverhampton Wanderers FC ...
Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images
Despite both hailing from Portugal, Amorim and Pereira have never actually come up against one another as managers.
Amorim is relatively new on the scene having only taken the Sporting CP job in 2020. Just before that, he managed Braga and Casa Pia.
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Pereira has managed in Portugal before, but not since 2013 after a couple of years with FC Porto.
But Amorim still knows a little bit of Pereira, and offered his thoughts on the new Wolves head coach today at his press conference, making the potentially key point that Pereira knows what it’s like to be at big clubs.
He said (via manutd.com): “He coached in Portugal, he won two titles, he did a great job at FC Porto. So, I know he’s a very good coach, he’ll prepare [for] the game, he will understand our moment.
“He’s also in a difficult moment but he knows big clubs, so he understands that, for us, it’s really hard this moment. We will try to take advantage, but we will be prepared for the game.”
Pereira could be a sound appointment for Wolves
It’s undoubtedly a gamble from Wolves to appoint Pereira, but O’Neil needed replacing and he was certainly up for the challenge.
He’s got a huge job on his hands to get Wolves to safety.
It was a good start for him at Leicester, but much sterner tests await Pereira and he’ll know big improvements will still be needed.
But as Amorim rightly points out, Pereira knows big clubs having been the head coach at the likes of Porto, Olympiacos, Fenerbahce, Corinthians and Flamengo.
So he should be ready to deal with a lot of pressure and expectations.
It’s thought Wolves will look to back Pereira with two new defensive recruits in January, and hopefully that will come to pass.
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