VITOR PEREIRA PRESS CONFERENCE: BOURNEMOUTH V WOLVES

Good afternoon, Vitor. Can I start with your team news, please? How is your squad looking for this weekend?

Good, I think it’s good. We did good work and we are ready for the game.

Emmanuel Agbadou, is he available?

No, he will be out for some games, I believe. This is the information that I have.

You don’t know how many games?

No.

Rodrigo Gomes? Rodrigo is out.

Sam Johnstone? In. In? Yes. 

Jorgen Strand Larsen was back training this week, I think?

Yes, yes. So how is he? He started training with the team.

He is trying to return to his condition, physically, tactically, and technically. But he is ready to help the team.

Is there anyone else that I missed out?

I think not.

Channy? Channy is out.

You have had a few days to reflect on the Liverpool game and the performance. How much confidence do you take from that?

The game before Liverpool in the league was against Aston Villa, and we played a consistent game, in my opinion.

Against Liverpool, my expectations were that we would play a strong match. From the beginning, the first half wasn’t the way I like to play, but the second half was very strong. The team gave me the confidence and expectations that we are at a point in the season where we can compete with every team in the league.

You felt there should have been a red card in that first half. Have you had a chance to speak to the referees’ association about it?

It’s better not to speak about the referees because now it’s impossible to… We had a meeting, but now it’s not… I like to compete during the game. After the game, my focus is on Bournemouth’s game.

I face a strong opponent, a very strong opponent, but I have confidence in my team.

A big positive was the performance of Marshall Munetsi in an unfamiliar position. Does that give you an option, week in, week out, with him playing that way?

I am not asking him to play as a striker.

We must look for the game. I am not asking him to play as a striker. He is a midfielder. In my opinion, he is a box-to-box midfielder. He is physically strong. He runs a lot, even in training. We must block him sometimes. He is calm. He is a player who brings us different qualities than the other midfielders.

He is a player who is ready to help us. He will be on the list for the game.

How quickly have the January signings settled in? Not just with their performances on the pitch, but they seem to have become a big part of the family already.

I think we must look for the right profiles. It’s not just about tactical and technical skills, but about personality too. They come to help and they bring that spirit.

How important is it that we spoke to Nelson Semedo yesterday, and he said they have been really working hard on showing the new signings their personalities and getting to know each other off the field? They went paintballing and have been for a meal at Sasha Kalajdzic’s restaurant.

How important are those things, do you think?

Nelson is a very important player, both on and off the pitch. He is someone who wants to help everybody, to involve everybody with the club and our targets. This is very important for us.

You didn’t fancy paintballing?

I didn’t, but because I have experience with paintball, I don’t want to repeat it.

You have got Bournemouth this weekend. They sit fifth in the table, despite having had loads of injuries.

What makes them so uncomfortable to play against?

They have a good team, very good players, and a very good coach. They are strong and confident. But to be honest, I am focused on my team.

Whether it’s Liverpool or another club, I respect everyone. But if you want to raise your level, you must focus on yourself. We must understand where we need to put our energy to improve. At this moment, I want to see my team playing with confidence and showing our qualities.

We need to look inside ourselves, to compete, to force our game, and to try to play our game from the first minute against a different team with a different profile, but using the tools we work on every day.

The home game against Bournemouth was painful for the squad. It was under a previous manager, but also because it was such an unusual game with three penalties and lots of errors.

Will you use that as a reference point with the players?

To avoid penalties, we must press them and not allow them to come into our box. If they come into our box too often and they are fast players, we need to control the space behind us. We must be aware of the one-on-one situations.

But I always say that if we press higher, the chances of them coming into our box decrease. If we play like we did in the first half against Liverpool, we may concede another penalty because we cannot just wait and wait. No, that’s not how I want my team to play.

We need to understand when to press and when to wait, but not just run back every time. I want a team that tries to impose our game.

How can you help give a player confidence? Is there much you can do in that situation, or does it have to come from within the player?

You have confidence if you feel in control. For me, it’s the same. Imagine this: when I work during the week on aspects we aren’t doing well, it brings me confidence because I will work on them.

That’s the control; that’s the confidence. I can give them the tactical GPS, as I said before. And after that, I must show them that I am a confident person.

As a coach, I want my team to be courageous. You can transmit not only tactical ideas but also personality. For me, I want to see courage. I want to see courage. Football cannot be played with fear. I’m not afraid of anything. I just want to see my team playing, competing, eye to eye with other teams.

You’ve got data now for everything else. You can find out how far a player has run, what position he’s in, how many passes he’s made, all of that. The one thing you can’t get data on is how they’re feeling.

So how are you judging that? The feeling?

Yes. The feeling is something that you can sense during training. You understand? You can tell if the team is confident or not. I feel that the team is confident.

I feel that the team is confident, not just as a group, but each player feels that we can play our game. This is a game that can create a lot of problems for other teams. We create chances to score and be consistent when we defend and attack together.

It’s about the tactical work and believing in what we propose to them. If they believe in our work, if I believe in my players, and if the players have confidence in each other, when we face our opponents, we think as one. In that moment, we know what we need to do, and we do it together. If we work together, we are a team.

If we start thinking different things at the same time, we are not a team.

We’ve all interviewed hundreds of players over the years, and they all say, “I’ll play anywhere for the manager.” Every player who’s ever been interviewed has always said that.

I stopped my career because I moved back to centre-back, then turned around to play as a goalkeeper. It was impossible. You know what I mean.

When you have to tell a player, like recently with Bellegarde or Munetsi, “I want you to do something different,” how does that conversation go? How do you know that the player is up for that?

Most of the time, I don’t say much. I put them in the position and let them try.

Do you understand? Then I start to give feedback. You need to sense if they feel comfortable or not. It’s very easy to understand. If you give too much information, they can get overwhelmed because they start to think too much.

I don’t like that. I put them in position and observe what they can give us in that role.

That’s it. I’m trying to give you credit here, Vitor. All right, good.

No, three points, and this is my credit.

Yeah, fair enough.

You cannot give me the three points

No, I can’t do that. Thank you.