Spirit, not tactics, key to Pereira´s pristine start at Wolves

Vitor Pereira put the tactics board aside ahead of Wolves’ victory over Manchester United.

Wolves backed up their impressive 3-0 win at Leicester City in Pereira’s first game in charge by beating United 2-0 on Boxing Day.

Matheus Cunha scored directly from a corner before Hwang Hee-chan sealed the points late on at Molineux.

Despite the clear improvements, Pereira explained he has not been putting too much emphasis on his team’s tactics.

He told Amazon Prime: “I said to them now that it’s not only about tactical things, it’s about spirit, the energy, the commitment, the confidence in themselves.

“In our lives if we don’t have confidence it’s impossible to achieve the targets.

“I think we have good players with quality, we were missing a mental click to play and I think the commitment [against United] and the supporters with us, it’s something special.”

A superb introduction to Molineux pic.twitter.com/pxh48ui561

— Wolves (@Wolves) December 26, 2024

Cunha was crucial, scoring Wolves’ opener before teeing up Hwang’s goal deep in stoppage time.

The Brazilian has scored in each of his last three Premier League games for Wolves. Only Henri Camara in April 2004 has a longer run for the club in the competition’s history (five games).

“We tried to put this ball swinging inside, but it’s his quality,” Pereira said of Cunha’s opener, which saw the former Atletico Madrid attacker curl an inswinging corner into the far corner of Andre Onana’s net.

“I think it’s not about work, it’s individual quality. He’s a player in my opinion who can reach high standards in this league.”

Pereira is the first Wolves boss to win his first two top-flight league games in charge since Sammy Chung in August 1977, while he is only the second Portuguese manager to win his first two games in charge in the Premier League, after Jose Mourinho.

Next up for Wolves is a trip to Tottenham on Sunday.