VITOR PEREIRA PRESS CONFERENCE: NEWCASTLE V WOLVES

Where do we stand on the injury front with Semedo, Cunha and Dawson?

They will be ready for the match. We need to be careful about the minutes they can play. But we need players, and players with this quality are welcome. Matheus, especially, as you mentioned, with the injury and also the suspension.

I’m just wondering how you feel he fits into your system since you arrived, and what you’ve seen on a day-to-day basis.

The conversations we have together are very comfortable. He’s very happy in this game and in his role in the team. If he’s happy, I’m happy. If he plays at a high level, I’m happy for him.

Since the beginning, I said it’s a Wolves game, not a Vitor Pereira game. It’s a Wolves game, and they need to feel that this is the game we want to play, that this is the game we work every day to build up.

You mentioned Matheus is very happy here. A lot of fans are wondering if he’s any closer to signing a new contract.

I don’t know. You must ask the club, not me. I imagine you’re very hopeful, though. He’s my player, and I don’t lose sleep thinking about him because the future is today.

Absolutely. You mentioned on Friday Mario was ill. Is he available for Newcastle?

Yes.

You also mentioned that he needs to decide whether to stay or go. I just wonder, of course, there’ll be private conversations, but how have those conversations been with him, and what is your gut feeling about what he could do this month?

This is an issue he must solve with the club. The club and Mario need to work this out together. I know what he wants, the club knows, and now they have to address this issue.

What I expect from him is to be professional, to help the team, and to try to solve the problem.

Just finally from me, talking about Newcastle, they have one player especially who’s in form, Alexander Izak, who has scored in seven games in a row in the Premier League. How do you, as a team, look to stop someone in such good form?

As a team, as a team.

We need to play as a team. If we play only against Izak, it will be 11 against Izak. But it’s 11 against a team that has eight wins in a row. When we look at this opponent, we understand why they are in this position. They play with identity, and they have a strong physical, technical, and tactical level. Very good work from the coach because the identity is very clear to me. It’s a very strong team.

We must look at our game, how to face this team with our game. This is most important for me. I need to focus on our game, our players, and our qualities. OK, let’s face them with our strengths. This is the most important. It’s not about changing our identity; it’s about asserting our identity against a different opponent.

Hi, Vitor. As you say, they’re looking for their eighth win in a row, but do you feel you have a lot of ways to hurt them now?

It’s a strong team. But I don’t know any perfect team. We need to understand the key tactical and technical points of this team.

With our game, because we also have quality players, we need to explore our strengths and try not to let them play the way they like.

In the last two games, especially against Nottingham Forest and Bristol City, you’ve created chances but only scored two goals. Is that a big concern for you in this game?

I think it’s part of the steps a team takes when it wants to improve. That’s normal. It’s the details—sometimes it’s just the last pass, the last moment, or the last run into the spaces we need to attack. This is work; we need to work on the details to score more goals.

Eddie Howe says you’ve connected quickly with your players. Has it felt natural for you? Has it been an easy move for you into the league?

Eddie’s a top coach. When I look for a coach, I focus not on what they say but on the teams they build. Newcastle is a very strong team.

I’ll try, of course, as Eddie has been at Newcastle for a long time. This is my intention in Wolverhampton—to build something strong. Now it’s time to connect everyone with the idea. A team for me has one brain. Everyone needs to identify on the pitch the moments to press, the moments to wait, the moments to go fast, and the moments to slow down.

We must have one intelligence on the pitch, scanning everything and understanding the game—our game.

I wanted to ask you about Rodrigo Gomes. How excited are you by his talent, potential, and attitude to the game?

He’s not tall, but he has a lot of energy and happiness. When you look for a player, you can see he is very happy as a person, always smiling and bringing good energy to help the team. If he plays, or if he starts on the bench, he will try to help the team. This is the kind of personality I like to work with.

Just finally for me, your next six games are against six of the top eight. Sorry. But you’ve come in mid-season, and you’ve had to work hard in a new country. It’s a big challenge. But are you enjoying that challenge?

If I think about the next six games, I might not sleep. I need to sleep and rest. We need to think about Newcastle. Newcastle is the most important game for us because it’s the next one.

Good luck. Thank you. Hello, Vitor. This club and many of these players were here and had really good results against top teams last season. What can you do as a coach to rebuild that confidence in the players to show them they have done this before?

You are trying to give me confidence too. I hope so.

But they have done it before. I think we need to have confidence inside us. I don’t believe in supermen. On the other side, there are 11 players. On our side, there are 11 players. We have a chance. I can say that if I play against the best team in the world, we have our chance. If we play with energy, the right commitment, team spirit, and courage, we can win.

Your new man, Agbadou, was talking to us after the game the other day. He seemed to really enjoy it. But he said it’s all transition, transition, transition here. Is the pace of the game in England the biggest thing for new players to get used to?

I spoke with Andre. In Brazil, when we have a throw-in, we have time to do it. We breathe a bit, rest a bit—calm, calm, calm. When we have a free kick or a corner here, it’s quick. If you sleep for ten seconds, you might wake up losing 1-0.

This is the difference. The game never stops. You have to think faster. But this is something I love—to be connected all the time, to be one step ahead. If the ball is there, I’m looking there because I want to prepare for the next moment of the game. This is why I feel like I’m playing with my team.