• 2 days ago
Pereira on Wolves second half performance in Liverpool defeat

16/02/2025

Anfield Stadium, Liverpool, UK
Transcript
00:00Hello. The second half, we proved that we are prepared to compete with every team in
00:23this league. When I looked for the game, I saw two different teams. The first team I
00:34didn't recognise on the pitch, my team, I didn't recognise. Why? Because we didn't play
00:41in our way, we didn't force the mistake, we didn't press them in the way that I want to
00:46press. But the second half, everything changed because the mental click changed everything.
00:54And when you go there and you play without being afraid, you play in your way, with confidence,
01:06personality, trying to compete for the result without nothing to block your mind. This is a
01:19team because the team has quality and prove it that we have this quality. This is the lesson
01:24that we must take from this game. Play in your level, I don't care about the result. Play,
01:34respect yourself. Play with the risks, pressing them. In the first half, we came just for the
01:45party, just to see them playing and this is not my way to play. This is not our way to play,
01:50this is not our work. But I am proud about what we did in the second half because we showed our
02:03quality, we showed our personality. They showed to me that I can be confident in the future.
02:20In my opinion, we had too much respect for Liverpool in the first half. The block was there
02:35but not to press, just to wait and waiting for the goal. This is something that we must correct
02:49the next time, for sure. We must be proactive, we must press them. The block is there but it's
02:57a block to press, it's not a block to wait, it's not a passive block. In the first half, of course,
03:04I didn't like the first half. In the second half, I'm very proud. When I'm proud, it means that I'm
03:15proud. I'm proud about what my team showed to me.
03:18Vitor Marshal came off the bench again today and showed what a threat he can be going forward.
03:24Disappointed in him to take that chance at the start of the second half?
03:27What he did for us was what I didn't find in the first half. He started to press them, he started to
03:41force mistakes. Even the best players in the world, with pressure, without time to think,
03:47they commit mistakes. They start to make mistakes, bad decisions, but we need to force them. What
03:56Monacic gave to us was him and Belegaert and the rest of the players. If the first line of
04:11pressure goes to press and the second line forgot to go, stay in the back. If the third line of
04:20pressure stays in the back, we cannot win games, we cannot press as a block.
04:26But if you start to go with coordination and start to press them, to press the best foot,
04:33try to understand the way to invite them in the areas that we want to press. It means that we must
04:47be intelligent, coordinate and we must be committed as a block. And that's what happened
04:56in the second half. When we lose the ball, we must press. This is our work. We cannot go back
05:04every time. This is what I saw in the first half.
05:10Emanuel Akbadoo came on in the second half. What's his injury and also Rodrigo Gomes and Sam Johnson's
05:16travel today?
05:18Rodrigo has a problem. Today, Akbadoo, in the half-time, he felt something and he should tell me
05:36that he felt something, went to the second half and I think he got an injury. I don't know,
05:44but we must respect the body. If I feel something, it's time to undergo another one.
05:53Is it a groin?
05:55I don't know. Maybe a muscle injury. I don't know. We'll see.
06:02There was some debate about if Irama cannot say the second charge, should he be sent off?
06:12What can I say? If I say now I cannot change nothing, what I say will not change nothing.
06:20It means that it's better to... In my opinion, it was the second yellow card, but I'm not a referee.
06:32Speaking of the referee, Ed, what were you booked for?
06:38I don't know. Maybe because I'm emotional. When I'm competing, I'm not watching a movie on the
06:53sofa. I'm competing, competing. When we're competing, you are emotional. I'm not in a
06:59theatre. I'm there to compete and we must understand the emotional side was not the
07:09respect of, in my opinion. I must accept, but I'm trying to accept a lot of decisions today.
07:23You understand? I'm trying to accept a lot of decisions. If I have yellow cards in my pocket,
07:34I think, oh, maybe red card, maybe red card.
07:42I think it's not serious. It's not serious. I think he felt something, but not serious.
07:52Thank you very much, everybody. Good work for everybody. Good luck.