Five victories in series
© Imago
After the 1-0 against Manchester United and the fifth victory in a row, the Wolverhampton Wanderers were allowed to celebrate the relegation in the Premier League five game days before the end. The father of success is Vítor Pereira, who relegated from the 2nd Bundesliga in 2017 with 1860 Munich and took over from Gary O’Neil shortly before Christmas. The obligation turned out to be a complete success, because Pereira even has a better point cut than Nuno Espírito Santo.
“It was not our best game. Technically and tactically, we know that we can play better. We played with heart and mind, and I saw that in this game. The fans believed in us, and the moment we had a chance, we scored a goal,” said Pereira after the victory against record champions Man United. In the weeks before, the Wolves Tottenham, Ipswich Town, West Ham United and FC Southampton had beaten, so that the club from the West Midlands is the most powerful team of the Premier League.
Shortly before Christmas, Pereira took over the coaching post at the Wolves when the team was in 19th with nine points from 16 games and the distance to the saving bank was five points. “When we arrived, self -confidence was not that big, but we gave them confidence, and in the end the results helped build something. We are in building something good for the future,” said Pereira.
For the post at the Wolves, Pereira terminated his contract with the Saudi first division club Al-Shabab. In 17 Premier League games under his direction, the Wolves won nine times and lost only six times-the bottom line is that 29 points have been better, only six teams have been better since then. In addition, the team reached the 5th round in the FA Cup, where the penalty shootout against Bournemouth was over.
TM expert: “Pereira made the team his own”
“Since Pereira Gary O’Neil has replaced and implemented his own tactics in Molineux, the Wolves look like a completely different team. Be it that he canceled the Christmas party of the club shortly after taking office in December, Mario Lemina withdrawn the captain’s office in favor of Nélson Semedo or simplified the tactics of the team on a 3-4-3 floor formation, the opposing teams The team quickly converted and made a look at the statistics that the Premier League is still unable to stop the Wolves, ”explains Stefan Bienkowski, Lead Manager UK.
The defensive in particular is significantly improved among Pereira. When he took office, the Wolves had gathered 40 goals in 16 games and sometimes conceded significant defeats. Pereira converted the defense and rely on a triple chain in the Matt Doherty, Santiago Bueno, Emmanuel Agbadou or Toti. This change was able to reduce the number of prisoner hits to 21 in 17 games. In addition, ex-Herthan Matheus Cunha is in top form, scored eight goals in 14 missions and decided several games in favor of the Wolves.
Of all Wolves trainers who were at least ten games in office, Pereira has the best point cut in the club history. He even surpasses Nuno Espírito Santo who led the club to the Premier League and then to the European Cup between 2017 and 2021. Pereira’s compatriot won an average of 1.68 points in his 199 games on the Wolves.
Very few have expected Pereira that the Premier League club trains so successfully in Germany, after all, his six-year intermezzo at 1860 Munich should hardly have been remembered well. For the second half of the 2016/17 season, the Portuguese took over the Munich Löwen in 14th place. At the end of the season, the club relegated to Jahn Regensburg to the 3rd division in the relegation against Jahn Regensburg, but even had to go to the regional league due to a license withdrawal. To date, you work on Grünwalder Straße on the return to the 2nd Bundesliga.
The Wolves are Pereira’s eleventh station as head coach, and the balance after half a year reads extremely positively. The 56-year-old working paper is still dated until 2026, so that he will also be on the sidelines in Molineux at the beginning of the coming season. Then he has the chance to prove himself in the best league in the world in a full season.