Latest news with #VítorPereira
BBC News
5 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Wolves struggle to find breakthrough in 1-1 draw with Stoke City
Wolves were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw against Championship side Stoke City in their first public pre-season friendly ahead of the 2025-26 campaign.Vítor Pereira's side were forced to come from behind to share the spoils, with forward Hwang Hee-chan getting on the end of a rebound in the 76th minute to net his first goal of the signing Fer Lopez was also handed his first minutes in a Wolves shirt during the encounter at bet365 Stadium, while left-back Hugo Bueno made his return from a successful loan spell at Feyenoord.
The Guardian
29-06-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
‘I've had some honest conversations with myself': Gary O'Neil keen to step back on to management train
'The journey's been pretty high speed,' Gary O'Neil says as he opens up on a whirlwind start to his managerial career. 'When you're in work it's different because there's always another massive game coming, whereas this has really given me time to have a deep dive into everything. The real benefit is the chance to breathe.' Sometimes there is an upside to life slowing down. O'Neil has had time to reflect and ask himself tough questions in the seven months since his sacking by Wolves. Why did it unravel after such a promising start? O'Neil is hungry. He has devoted a lot of time to studying set pieces and speaking to experts in the field given that a poor record at dead balls played a big part in Wolves' struggles this past season. O'Neil is not bitter about Wolves, who were 19th in the Premier League when they decided it was time for a change. The 42-year-old is happy that Vítor Pereira guided the club to safety. It is worth pointing out that O'Neil had not been coaching long when Bournemouth asked him to go from first-team coach to interim manager after a 9-0 defeat by Liverpool led to Scott Parker's departure at the start of the 2022-23 season. He started at Liverpool's academy and remembers making little mistakes in training. It was part of the learning process. 'It's been two and a bit full-on seasons of Premier League football straight in,' O'Neil says. 'I don't think you'll find many people in any industry who feel they've hit their peak after two years. I knew there were going to be gaps because that's the journey. You close your gaps the longer you're in it.' O'Neil has been to St George's Park to speak to the Football Association's technical director, John McDermott, and to deliver presentations to aspiring coaches. He has been to the rugby league side Wigan Warriors to observe their manager, Matt Peet. O'Neil loved seeing how Wigan's players took responsibility for their preparation. Experiencing those cultures has left O'Neil thinking about how to build his own at his next club. Bournemouth's squad was easy to manage. They finished 15th in their first year back in the top flight. Bill Foley's takeover was in the works and O'Neil was told that survival was key. He adjusted his tactics accordingly. No promoted side have stayed up since but O'Neil was replaced by Andoni Iraola at the end of the year. He is proud to have played a part in Bournemouth's rise. What does O'Neil make of the debate around a manager's philosophy. 'I don't like the word,' he says. 'The time you use your philosophy the most is actually in the job interview. In the two jobs I've gone into we've had to be incredibly adaptable. 'I have a real clear way in how I want my team to play. When I got to Wolves there wasn't all the components there that would have fitted into exactly what I wanted this to be. It had been a back five for a very long time.' O'Neil was parachuted in at Molineux after Julen Lopetegui left on the eve of the 2023-24 season. His first season featured doubles over Chelsea and Tottenham, a precious win at West Brom in the FA Cup and a stunning victory over Manchester City. 'You go through the goals we've scored, some of the quality, some of the results,' O'Neil says. 'Even the Fulham game last season, so much was off the training ground. There's a win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge when we got four moves we'd worked on since we got there. 'If you only focus on the end, you can convince yourself that it was an unsuccessful experience, but it wasn't. We stayed at Wolves for a very long time. We've got that whole group of players from different cultures to buy into my way.' O'Neil, who really started thinking about management when an ankle injury threatened to end his playing career in 2011, has come prepared. He offers an insight into his methods and rigour by bringing up clips of his work with Pedro Neto and Matheus Cunha in training. He talks about using Neto on the right and teaching him how to become more unpredictable by coming in off the flank. Bukayo Saka was a reference point for the Portugal winger. O'Neil got into Neto about his final ball, telling him it had to be better if he wanted to play for a top club. There were endless drills on cutbacks with his right foot and inswinging crosses with his left. 'I was fortunate that Matheus and Pedro were both at an age where they were still ready to lap that stuff up,' O'Neil says. With Cunha, he focused on turning the Brazilian into an inside left who could get into positions to bend shots into the far corner with his right foot. So much work went into changing the new Manchester United forward's mentality; into making him more diligent without diminishing his maverick talent. Selling Neto to Chelsea last summer was disappointing. 'It was a tough phone call,' O'Neil says. 'We'd had a fantastic pre-season. It had been fairly quiet around him. We'd discussed that we might lose him. But then there's not too much going on. We'd started to develop his relationship with Nélson Semedo on that side. Then Chelsea come and there was only going to be one outcome.' Wolves were not in a strong financial position. Their defence was weaker after they sold their captain, Maximilian Kilman, to West Ham. A challenge for European qualification during O'Neil's first year fizzled out as injuries in attack bit. Fans grumbled after Wolves, who finished 14th despite being tipped to go down when Lopetegui left, lost at home to Coventry in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. O'Neil offers context, saying the absence of Neto, Cunha and Hwang Hee-chan forced him to promote youth and use makeshift players in attack. He loved the challenge but understood the realities. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion Momentum eluded Wolves, the pressure rising at the start of the season. 'No matter how we played we still found a way to concede goals,' O'Neil says. 'Some of the data shows that we were still improving but we were never able to get a result. We're better than Newcastle for 70 minutes at home and lost 2-1. We took Manchester City close and concede a corner in the last minute.' Wolves had conceded 20 times from set pieces by the time O'Neil went. They had already sacked their set-piece coach, Jack Wilson, after losing 5-3 to Brentford. O'Neil points out that his defence was ravaged by Kilman going, Craig Dawson returning from groin surgery and Yerson Mosquera sustaining a serious knee injury. 'A lot was down to the bad luck of us missing people with aerial presence during that period,' he says. 'The more you concede, the more the confidence starts to drop. But things not going well forces your focus on to them. In my time between Bournemouth and Wolves, would I have been looking at set pieces much? Probably not. But because of how Wolves finished up it increases my focus. We'll definitely be much better at them the next time we go in.' O'Neil had a lower net spend than managers at similar clubs during his time at Wolves. The data was also favourable. Wolves' expected goals improved under O'Neil. But he accepts that results were not good enough. 'I felt we needed to get to January,' O'Neil says. 'We needed to plug the hole at the back. We signed a lot of players in the summer, but a lot of young players. We were going to try and have some older ones ready to go in. I always felt like we'd have enough to turn it around but in the end you accept your fate.' It did not help that there were flashpoints towards the end of O'Neil's time. Mario Lemina was stripped of the captaincy after clashing with teammates and squaring up to a member of the backroom team after an unlucky 2-1 defeat by West Ham. There were also angry scenes after O'Neil's final game, which ended in a 2-1 defeat by Ipswich. 'I think the players were incredibly frustrated on the inside and in the dressing room,' O'Neil says. 'We were still 100% together. There wasn't any letup at all. That West Ham game, we gave everything. But there were issues at the time, and the club were able to fix them in January.' Now for the next challenge. One charge against O'Neil is that he can be too emotional in post-match press conferences. 'I try to be honest,' he says. 'I'm really calm on the sideline. But I think it is important that you have some emotion in the job. It can be powerful for players. I'll always try and find the right balance and it will have been on my list of things that I looked at in my time out. 'There's been some honest conversations with myself in the mirror, with some of my coaching staff, with people that I trust around what we need to do. We're two years in and it's gone very quickly. Sort of like a high-speed train. You're on it and there's no real opportunity to get off. But now that we've managed to have a little debrief and figure out what the next one looks like, you pick the next train. You get ready to go again.'
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Premier League Soccer: Stream Man City vs. Wolves Live From Anywhere
If you buy something through a link in this article, we may earn commission. Pricing and availability are subject to change. Having secured their place in the FA Cup final at the weekend, Man City will look to strengthen their grip on a UEFA Champions League qualification spot as they host Wolves on Friday in the English Premier League. Below, we'll outline the best live TV streaming services to use to watch the game as it happens, wherever you are in the world, and how to use a VPN if the match isn't available where you are. Advertisement Sunday's 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup semifinal at Wembley saw City back to its best, boosting manager Pep Guardiola's hopes of avoiding a rare season without a trophy. City now returns its focus to securing a top-five place as they face a Wolves side that can relax a little after ensuring their Premier League survival. Manager Vítor Pereira has overseen a superb run of six consecutive EPL wins for the Old Gold. Manchester City take on Wolverhampton Wanderers on Friday, May 2, at the Etihad Stadium, with kickoff set for 8 p.m. BST local time. That makes it a 3 a.m. ET or 12 p.m. PT start in the US and Canada, and an 4:30 p.m. AEST kickoff in Australia on Saturday morning. Norwegian striker Jørgen Strand Larsen scored his 13th Premier League goal of the season in Wolves' 3-0 win over Leicester last Saturday. How to watch Man City vs. Wolves in the US without cable Friday's Man City vs. Wolves game will be broadcast on the USA Network, which you can access as part of your cable package or at the NBC Sports website with a valid login. It can also be streamed via Sling TV and other, more expensive streaming TV services. Sling TV Sling TV's Blue plan includes USA Network, making it a great option for fans wanting to watch Premier League action. It's $40 a month and features over 40 channels, including other sports channels like ESPN and FS1. Advertisement Read our Sling TV review. See at Sling TV How to watch the Premier League 2024-25 season from anywhere with a VPN If you're traveling abroad and want to keep up with all the Premier League action while away from home, a VPN can help enhance your privacy and security when streaming. It encrypts your traffic and prevents your internet service provider from throttling your speeds, and can also be helpful when connecting to public Wi-Fi networks while traveling, adding an extra layer of protection for your devices and logins. VPNs are legal in many countries, including the US and Canada, and can be used for legitimate purposes such as improving online privacy and security. Advertisement However, some streaming services may have policies restricting VPN usage to access region-specific content. If you're considering a VPN for streaming, check the platform's terms of service to ensure compliance. If you choose to use a VPN, follow the provider's installation instructions, ensuring you're connected securely and in compliance with applicable laws and service agreements. Some streaming platforms may block access when a VPN is detected, so verifying if your streaming subscription allows VPN usage is crucial. ExpressVPN ExpressVPN is our current best VPN pick for people who want a reliable and safe VPN, and it works on a variety of devices. It's normally $13 a month, but if you sign up for an annual subscription for $100 you'll get three months free and save 49%. That's the equivalent of $6.67 a month. Advertisement Note that ExpressVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. See at ExpressVPN Livestream Man City vs. Wolves in the UK Today's match at the Etihad Stadium is exclusive to Sky Sports, showing on its Sky Sports Main Event, Premier League and UHD channels. If you already have Sky Sports as part of your TV package, you can stream the game via its Sky Go app, but cord-cutters will want to get set up with a Now account and a Now Sports membership to stream the game. Now Sky subsidiary Now offers streaming access to Sky Sports channels with a Now Sports membership. You can get a day of access for £15, or sign up to a monthly plan from £35 per month right now. Advertisement See at Now Livestream Man City vs. Wolves in Canada If you want to stream this EPL game live in Canada, you'll need to subscribe to Fubo Canada. Once again, the service has exclusive rights to every Premier League match this season. Fubo Canada Fubo is the go-to destination for Canadians looking to watch the EPL this season, with exclusive streaming rights to every match. It costs CA$30 a month, though you can save some cash by paying quarterly or annually. See at Fubo Livestream Man City vs. Wolves in Australia Football fans down under can watch EPL matches live on streaming service Optus Sport, which is showing every single Premier League match of the 2024-25 season live in Australia. Optus Sport With exclusive rights to stream all EPL matches live this season, as well as German Bundesliga and Spanish La Liga games, streaming service Optus Sport is a particularly big draw for Aussie soccer fans. Advertisement If you're already an Optus network customer, you can bag Optus Sport for a reduced price, with discounts bringing the price down to as low as AU$7 a month. If you're not, a standalone monthly subscription to the service starts at AU$25. See at Optus Quick tips for streaming the Premier League using a VPN
The Independent
29-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
How Vitor Pereira has completely transformed Wolves
After 16 games under Gary O'Neill, Wolves were firmly in the relegation dogfight with fans fearing the worst. But now, after 16 games under Vítor Pereira, they've become one of the Premier League 's most consistent and dangerous sides, and would be pushing for Europe if they hadn't had such a mountain to climb. Adam Clery looks at the stunning changes the Portugese manager has made, and explains why they look set to have a very bright future together.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Vítor Pereira: ‘When I go to a pub it's not about beer. I go to be with the people'
'Gold, like our club,' says Vítor Pereira, pointing towards his glass of Asahi. 'This is the colour.' The charismatic Wolverhampton Wanderers head coach has just taken a sip of beer and something of a breather halfway through an hour-long conversation at the Inn at Shipley, a pub on the outskirts of the city, taking in everything from his days as a lifeguard in his hometown of Espinho, a fishing village south of Porto, to almost becoming Everton manager – on three occasions. He claims he once had job offers from Arsenal, before Mikel Arteta was appointed, Crystal Palace and Wolves' arch-rivals West Brom, too. This is his first visit to this watering hole but the perfect setting given Pereira's 'first the points, then the pints' mantra that has led to him celebrating wins by mingling with supporters in the local Wetherspoons and a fans' group to launch a lager and IPA decorated with the slogan. There is only one place to start: joining supporters to drink in victory. 'You need to be with the people because you need to see the smiles. When I go to a pub it's not about the beer. Of course, I like the beer,' he grins, his go-to lager Stella Artois, 'but I go to be with the people, to feel that I'm doing something to make them happy, to make them proud. This is my energy. I must go to a pub, because this is the culture.' Wolves's striking uplift since Pereira replaced Gary O'Neil in December – only Liverpool and Newcastle have recorded more Premier League wins in that time – means there has been plenty of cause for celebration. 'I think if I wasn't a manager, I would be something like an architect. I like to create. Every time that I go to a club, it's like I take a baby in my arms. And I start to help them grow. It's like I start a new painting. This is football, it has given me the chance to express my creativity. If I didn't do this, I would maybe be a painter … maybe I should work in art.' The 56-year-old exudes cool but is frank when discussing the pains of management, the personal sacrifices. 'The last 15 years, my wife has been the father and the mother,' he says, alluding to time away from his three sons, each in their 20s, while working across the globe, including in China, Greece, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. 'I didn't see anything. Birthdays, graduations … I have never been there. Never. I don't want this life for my sons. We have a lot of moments where we suffer a lot. And alone. I think we are always in a pre-depression. I believe that the moments of my life gave me the opportunity to be stronger.' Which moments? He tells a story of when he met the press while coaching in Brazil. 'They asked me: 'Vítor, you don't feel the pressure?' The pressure, my friend. I'll tell you about the pressure. The pressure was when my father had cancer, my brother was dying, my mother was crying. And when we deal with this; football is football. I don't feel any pressure. Nothing. Zero. The pressure is the pressure that I put on myself. Because I want to be better. And better and better and better. If I'm in the right place to challenge myself, I can do magic. Believe me.' Life on the road has created challenges, some more trivial than others. 'Sometimes I go home, and it's like: 'Where are my clothes?' I don't know where to find the knives and forks. I change house, cars every time. [My family] will start to talk when we have lunch or dinner, and my mind is on football. Sometimes I cannot understand the conversation. It's like I started to see the movie … but I lose the movie until the end. I get to the end and I don't know what happened.' He is engrossed on a matchday. 'Sometimes when I'm in the game it's like I'm playing PlayStation. You must be in a game mode. That's why I say to my players: 'I'm playing.' You are always [trying to be] one second in advance, to anticipate what will happen. That's why sometimes I don't see the goals. And a lot of times I say to them: 'The warm-up is not physical. It's mental.' I'm here in the dressing room, but I'm playing. I started the game before you. Because mentally, I'm prepared to be strong. That's why, when we conceded the goal against Fulham in the beginning of the second half, for me it was …' he says, throwing a pretend dagger to the heart as he recalls the 2-1 home defeat in February. Wolves trailed relegated Leicester by five points when Pereira took the reins yet with four games to play, the first at Manchester City on Friday, they could feasibly finish mid-table. Wolves have won six consecutive top-flight games for the first time since 1970. The January signings of Emmanuel Agbadou and Marshall Munetsi have contributed to the feelgood factor but Wolves are braced for another summer of change with Matheus Cunha poised to depart and the captain Nelson Semedo's contract expiring, 12 months after Pedro Neto and Maximilian Kilman were sold. Pereira appears relaxed but makes his point. 'We don't need millions and millions – we need to have intelligence. We can't waste money if we don't have a lot [to spend].' Pereira was a PE teacher for 15 years but as an 18-year-old he worked as a lifeguard on Saturdays on the stretch of sand he will always call home. 'My father didn't have money so we lived in a basement – underground. In the winter the sea was really strong and there were no barriers. Every winter, for three months, water came inside. We had to rebuild the house. Every time water came in the walls, and there would be a bad smell. I felt ashamed because my clothes [would] smell. But I was a very happy teenager because in this kind of community we had our guys. When I look back, this power I feel inside of me came from this time.' He acknowledges he is living his dream. 'I knew since the beginning that I wanted to be a manager. Sometimes we don't know: 'I like this, I like that.' For me, it was very easy: I want to be a coach. After that, I want to be a coach in the Premier League in Portugal. After that, I want to win the league in Portugal. OK. After that, I want to win leagues outside the country. OK. I want to go to the Premier League. These are the targets.' What's next? 'You'll see,' he replies. For Pereira, survival alone is insufficient. 'I didn't come to England just to avoid relegation.' Pereira emits the air of someone easily pleased. 'I'm a man of the sea,' he says, smiling. 'I grew up on the beach. My house was 50 metres from the beach. My friends are the people [I met there] 50 years ago. They are my friends, all of them. I go there and I feel like I'm home: 'I belong here, this is my space.' In front of the sea, with my beer, my paper and a pen. This is what I like.'
