Wolves 2024/25 | Vitor Pereira appointed

Chipper

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I wanted to talk about Wolves! With Neto looking like he's about to go, Kilman gone for big money, and not too much being spent on bringing players in so far could they struggle?

Still time to do some business. Linked with Ramsdale currently although statistically Jose Sa was great for them last season anyway. He was the biggest overperformer on post-shot xG in the whole league according to fbref and tied for 4th when it came to save percentage.

Sa arguably earned a few points for them on his own. Understat had them on 40 expected points as they got 46 and it was the goals conceded column that made the difference. Do they even need a new 'keeper? Whoever is between the sticks, Sa or someone else, can they repeat last year?

Additions:
Rodrigo Gomes, £12.7m (Braga), 7 goals, 7 assists on loan at Estoril last season, can play on either wing
Pedro Lima, £8.5m (Recife) young right back from the Brazilian 2nd division, capped for Brazil U17s
Tommy Doyle, £4.3m (Man City) midfielder, made loan move permanant, 11 starts and 15 sub appearances last season
Jorgen Strand Larsen (Celta Vigo) loan with obligation to buy. Tall striker, 13 goals in La Liga last season, Norwegian international with 3 goals in 14.

There was a slight dip in form in the 2nd half of last season which doesn't always bode well although it was nothing too dramatic. 25 points from the first half of the season, 21 from the 2nd half.

Neto's loss obviously looks big, their leading assist maker with 9 from just 20 appearances last season. No Asian Cup or AFCON this season for Hwang and Ait-Nouri is a minor plus.
 
I think they might get sucked into a relegation scrap but would still expect them to finish anywhere from 13th-17th. Do they have homegrown talents in the senior side? Who are the dressing room leaders, just asking as I've got no clue.

Also, I think Ramsdale should be aiming higher. Think West Ham could do with an improvement on that front, and like you said, Sa had a good season.
 
I actually think Kilman and Neto are arguably good sales for them. £40 million is a good fee for a decent CB who won’t improve anymore, and £54 million for a player who will only ever play half your games isn’t bad either.

I think Strand Larsen is well suited to the PL and will be a good signing. Cunha, Gomes, Rodrigo, Hwang, Lemina, Sarabia, Ait Nouri. They have good players.

If they go out and get a CB and a midfielder, I fancy them to have a good season. O’Neil is a clever manager and will have some money to invest now.
 
Neto going is a loss for sure but expected and 60m is a decent fee for a player with his injury record
Preseason has been pretty good overall 4 wins 2 defeats. Good wins over West Ham and Leipzig
Yerson Mosquera was one of the stand out players a CB who had very successful loans at Cincinnati and Villarreal

Cunha and Hwang had their best numbers for goals last season if both stay fit they should have decent seasons add Rodrigo Gomes and Larsen and the forward players are good to go.

Sa is absolutely fine however Bentley isn’t good enough to be a no 2 and likely going to arsenal which is why we are linked with goalies

Lemina is our captain much more vocal than Kilman Doyle has been captain a few times, when lemina has gone off.

Last season Gary O’Neil came in 3 days before the season started with absolutely no preseason and a team having lost 150m in talent to balance the books for psr. He did an excellent job despite injuries and crazy var decisions which is why he’s been awarded a 4 year contract. Players love him, and enjoy playing for him.

We need to get a CB GK and maybe another CF and that’s it.

Good news is that Cunha who limped off against West Ham will be fit for the start of the season. Semedo last seasons players player of the season has a 3 match ban which is a massive miss but will give Pedro Lima a chance to impress..

Tough start to the season with arsenal Chelsea Liverpool Newcastle villa and Man City in our first few games. Hoping for less var controversy this season.
 
I somehow managed to watch a lot of Wolves last season quite enjoyed their approach to the game.

GK I don't think Sa will be replaced, but perhaps they might prefer a better ball playing goalkeeper. I think Sa is like Ben Foster, a brilliant 6 yard box keeper, outside of that he's not great.

In defence they have Mosquera and Bueno who should be coming into the fold. Unkown but you never know how they'll turn out. Ait Nouri and Semedo are decent full backs, although I don't really rate Semedo as much as Ait Nouri.

They have a solid midfield and good wingers.
Lemina, Gomes and Sarabia is a good midfield.
Then you have Hwang, Podence, Cunha and the new guy Larsen in attack.

The problem they'll have is the drop off outside the first 11. Arguably a centre back, midfielder and a striker away from being a decent team capable of pushing for top 10.
 
CallyRed said:
Great shout and perfect Neto replacement.
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Why is he injury prone?
Oranges038 said:
I somehow managed to watch a lot of Wolves last season quite enjoyed their approach to the game.

GK I don't think Sa will be replaced, but perhaps they might prefer a better ball playing goalkeeper. I think Sa is like Ben Foster, a brilliant 6 yard box keeper, outside of that he's not great.

In defence they have Mosquera and Bueno who should be coming into the fold. Unkown but you never know how they'll turn out. Ait Nouri and Semedo are decent full backs, although I don't really rate Semedo as much as Ait Nouri.

They have a solid midfield and good wingers.
Lemina, Gomes and Sarabia is a good midfield.
Then you have Hwang, Podence, Cunha and the new guy Larsen in attack.

The problem they'll have is the drop off outside the first 11. Arguably a centre back, midfielder and a striker away from being a decent team capable of pushing for top 10.
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don’t think we need another midfielder we are well stocked in that area

we are looking at adding a CB another CF
May be after another LWB with Hugo bueno going on loan.

If we get a goalie it’ll be competition for Sa rather than replacement I hope so anyway.
 
I'm a big fan of Gary O Neil. Attractive, quick, organised transitional football. I hope they do well.
 
Neto will be a loss for counter but they still picked up good wins last season with him unavailable through injury.

Plenty of Wolves fans didn't rate Kilman and think 40m is daylight robbery for what he's generally shown, needed Dawson to hold his hand and they weren't impressed by his leadership at times. Dawson and Toti Gomes will be fine if they stay fit.

Cunha was looking quality before his injury so him, Hwang and Sarabia is still a decent front three. Mario Lemina also one of the most underrated CMs in the league for what he offers.

Their squad is too thin to seriously challenge for europe anymore unlike the Nuno years but would be surprised if they were in a serious relegation battle. They had a poor start last season before easing up the league so I think them and Everton are very similar, well drilled in key positions and can sit back and hit teams on the break.

As usual a very awkward team for top 6-7 to try to beat especially at Molineux.
 
Pellistri would suit them nicely on a loan
 
VP89 said:
Pellistri would suit them nicely on a loan
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Would be a great loan for Amad Diallo with the Neto void on the right but I presume after his impact at end of last season he's going to get a serious run in your team ? (at least up to January)
 
FootballHQ said:
Would be a great loan for Amad Diallo with the Neto void on the right but I presume after his impact at end of last season he's going to get a serious run in your team ? (at least up to January)
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Diallo looks nailed on on our right wing and rightly so. He may rotate at times with Garnacho/Rashford., but if the latter continues his poor form I doubt Amad will be dropped.

I think he'll have a Garnacho -esque breakout season, maybe better.
 
VP89 said:
Diallo looks nailed on on our right wing and rightly so. He may rotate at times with Garnacho/Rashford., but if the latter continues his poor form I doubt Amad will be dropped.

I think he'll have a Garnacho -esque breakout season, maybe better.
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United would be mad to not have him be the starting RW. Would probably be best to him loan had you signed someone like Olise but with only Antony as his direct competition, he’s got to the be starter, and then the first winger off the bench when Ten Hag decides to start Rashford and Garnacho together. Antony should be buried deep in the pecking order.
 
WeePat said:
United would be mad to not have him be the starting RW. Would probably be best to him loan had you signed someone like Olise but with only Antony as his direct competition, he’s got to the be starter, and then the first winger off the bench when Ten Hag decides to start Rashford and Garnacho together. Antony should be buried deep in the pecking order.
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Agreed. I just worry with Ten Hag's insistence on Rashford. If he wants to force Rashford into the team then Garnacho is the RW competition.
 
1 win and 6 points from 16 matches stretching back to last season now. Ouch. That win was 2-1 at home to Luton.

Brentford (A), City (H), Brighton (A) in their next 3.

I've watched a couple of their games now, Newcastle and Liverpool and they fought hard in both to their credit. They have had an extremely harsh fixture list to start the season too.

It does get to a point where you wonder what sort of shape they might be in when the fixtures do get a bit easier. Those next 3 aren't the best.
 
Just never lived up to hype when they came up. Did Mendes get bored of them?
 
ShoePolish said:
Just never lived up to hype when they came up. Did Mendes get bored of them?
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Owners got bored, post covid they’ve invested very little, sold players without replacing them adequately, our wages are amongst the lowest in the division. Their main ambition is to stay up. We knew the first run of fixtures would be tough even without the injuries we’ve had, not too worried yet
 
Ipswich (H) Leicester (A) next two. Absolutely huge games as after that they're practically playing the reverse fixtures from the start of the season which was the toughest start of all. Turns very nasty.

While both games are so important the Leicester one is vital. No matter what happens this week if they lost to Leicester they'd be a minimum 5 points behind them.

It's then United (H), Spurs (A), Forest (H), Newcastle (A), Chelsea (A), Arsenal (H), Villa (H), Liverpool (A), Bournemouth (A). Can see 6 or 7 defeats there out of 9 quite easily.
 
Will Ait-Nouri and Cunha be suspended against us ? The former was given a red but not sure if he gets 1, 2 or 3 matches - and Cunha was involved in a brawl with a staff member and will be investigated as well.
 
What's going on with Wolves. Strong team on paper but cannot buy a win
 
lysglimt said:
Will Ait-Nouri and Cunha be suspended against us ? The former was given a red but not sure if he gets 1, 2 or 3 matches - and Cunha was involved in a brawl with a staff member and will be investigated as well.
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One match ban for Ait-Nouri two yellows
Cunha possibly three match ban depends on the hearing.
 
Soulless appointment. He averages a year in his roles - this will be his 18th job in 22 years. Another Jorge Mendes client. Not saying he won't be decent. He has some pedigree, including league titles in Portugal, Greece and China. He's meant to be a mercenary though, as his spell in Brazil proved (left Corinthians to return home to look after his mother but almost immediately went to Flamengo).
 
His CV is incredible. Probably only that Belgian dude who has managed half the national teams in Africa can claim to be more of a journeyman.
 
I wonder what documents Fab knows are being checked
 
SparkedIntoLife said:
Soulless appointment. He averages a year in his roles - this will be his 18th job in 22 years. Another Jorge Mendes client. Not saying he won't be decent. He has some pedigree, including league titles in Portugal, Greece and China. He's meant to be a mercenary though, as his spell in Brazil proved (left Corinthians to return home to look after his mother but almost immediately went to Flamengo).
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Have to agree with the paycheck-chaser part. As I said in another topic, he's a good manager, but made terrible career choices due to picking the best offer, as you pointed, and well. And it was really a bad decision from him, he actually made a very solid work at Corinthians if you bare in mind how messed up the environment sorrounding that club.

It's really a shame what he made of his career, because his work at Porto with a very limited squad (for some reason Porto did not invest that much) was very solid: the football was good, the team was tactically very well drilled and he was seen as an uprising manager at the time.

In 2013 he refused Everton to manage in Saudi Arabia receiving a lot of money. IMHO it's his first big mistake in his career.

After Turkey he refused Leicester City offer to join Chinese Super League on massive wages. Once again, career wise a poor decision, even though financially was excellent (he became a top 10 highest paid manager in the world).

Can't say his career is bad, he made some very solid seasons and won some titles in the way, but he has very little to show for a manager that looked so promising 11 years ago.
 
USREDEVIL said:
Wolves talk. Feck yea get in
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To be honest I didn't want to talk about them that much when I started the thread, it's just that there were a lot of threads being started for nearly every club at the time of creating this one. I'd also noted their really bad form at the end of last season at around the same time and put them down for 18th and relegation in a pre-season prediction thread.

Kind of wanted to start the narrative so I'd look a bit clever if they did/do go down. It's a thread born from my ego mostly. :lol:

Still, plenty to talk about. Let's see if the new manager can pick them up and have an immediate impact. Extremely important game vs Leicester next, can't afford to fall 8 points behind them especially with some of the games they have upcoming.

Leicester's defence almost as porous as theirs, score could be anything based off what we've seen so far.
 
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André Dominguez said:
Have to agree with the paycheck-chaser part. As I said in another topic, he's a good manager, but made terrible career choices due to picking the best offer, as you pointed, and well. And it was really a bad decision from him, he actually made a very solid work at Corinthians if you bare in mind how messed up the environment sorrounding that club.

It's really a shame what he made of his career, because his work at Porto with a very limited squad (for some reason Porto did not invest that much) was very solid: the football was good, the team was tactically very well drilled and he was seen as an uprising manager at the time.

In 2013 he refused Everton to manage in Saudi Arabia receiving a lot of money. IMHO it's his first big mistake in his career.

After Turkey he refused Leicester City offer to join Chinese Super League on massive wages. Once again, career wise a poor decision, even though financially was excellent (he became a top 10 highest paid manager in the world).

Can't say his career is bad, he made some very solid seasons and won some titles in the way, but he has very little to show for a manager that looked so promising 11 years ago.
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Thanks for these extra details. He's quite impressive but a volatile character.

I saw a press conference with him in Saudi where he went mad at the press liaison who asked him not to criticise individual players on his own club. I suspect Pereira and the UK press will be an interesting mix!

It's noticeable that Portugal currently have a very impressive crop of coaches who seem also to be mercenaries with a propensity for conflict with their bosses. Mourinho being the biggest example, especially in recent years, as he seems to go somewhere for two seasons and then combusts, forcing a huge payoff. These days, Jorge Jesus seems to move on very quickly and upset a few people in the process. Sergio Conceicao stayed 7 years at Porto before falling out with Villas Boas (another coach in this mold). However, before that, he had 6 jobs in 7 years. Carlos Carvahal has had 23 jobs in 26 years. Nuno Espirito Santo has had 7 in 12. Leo Jardim has had 12 in 21 years (with only 3 jobs where he stayed over 2 years). Bruno Lage - 5 clubs in 5 years. Marco Silva had the same accusations of being a mercenary and hothead launched at him (after being at 5 clubs in 5 years) but seems to have settled at Fulham for now.

I do wonder whether Jorge Mendes provokes some of these guys to seek new clubs and compensation payoffs, even if it hurts their overall career progression, for the sake of extra money.

Thankfully we seem to have a Portuguese manager who seems more motivated by success than money.

One final point... with the quality of coach Portugal are producing, I have no clue why Martinez, a Spaniard, is your coach!
 
SparkedIntoLife said:
Thanks for these extra details. He's quite impressive but a volatile character.

I saw a press conference with him in Saudi where he went mad at the press liaison who asked him not to criticise individual players on his own club. I suspect Pereira and the UK press will be an interesting mix!

It's noticeable that Portugal currently have a very impressive crop of coaches who seem also to be mercenaries with a propensity for conflict with their bosses. Mourinho being the biggest example, especially in recent years, as he seems to go somewhere for two seasons and then combusts, forcing a huge payoff. These days, Jorge Jesus seems to move on very quickly and upset a few people in the process. Sergio Conceicao stayed 7 years at Porto before falling out with Villas Boas (another coach in this mold). However, before that, he had 6 jobs in 7 years. Carlos Carvahal has had 23 jobs in 26 years. Nuno Espirito Santo has had 7 in 12. Leo Jardim has had 12 in 21 years (with only 3 jobs where he stayed over 2 years). Bruno Lage - 5 clubs in 5 years. Marco Silva had the same accusations of being a mercenary and hothead launched at him (after being at 5 clubs in 5 years) but seems to have settled at Fulham for now.

I do wonder whether Jorge Mendes provokes some of these guys to seek new clubs and compensation payoffs, even if it hurts their overall career progression, for the sake of extra money.

Thankfully we seem to have a Portuguese manager who seems more motivated by success than money.

One final point... with the quality of coach Portugal are producing, I have no clue why Martinez, a Spaniard, is your coach!
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Add Leonardo Jardim to the list. You are right that there is an epidemic of portuguese managers chasing the dough
 
Chipper said:
To be honest I didn't want to talk about them that much when I started the thread, it's just that there were a lot of threads being started for nearly every club at the time of creating this one. I'd also noted their really bad form at the end of last season at around the same time and put them down for 18th and relegation in a pre-season prediction thread.

Kind of wanted to start the narrative so I'd look a bit clever if they did/do go down. It's a thread born from my ego mostly. :lol:

Still, plenty to talk about. Let's see if the new manager can pick them up and have an immediate impact. Extremely important game vs Leicester next, can't afford to fall 8 points behind them especially with some of the games they have upcoming.

Leicester's defence almost as porous as theirs, score could be anything based off what we've seen so far.
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I'm just busting your chops. It's an interesting team. I watch this one vlog once in a while with this wolves fan and his sister i think when they go to games. They were good for a while there but didn't sustain it like a lot of others, Leceister, etc.
 
SparkedIntoLife said:
Thanks for these extra details. He's quite impressive but a volatile character.

I saw a press conference with him in Saudi where he went mad at the press liaison who asked him not to criticise individual players on his own club. I suspect Pereira and the UK press will be an interesting mix!

It's noticeable that Portugal currently have a very impressive crop of coaches who seem also to be mercenaries with a propensity for conflict with their bosses. Mourinho being the biggest example, especially in recent years, as he seems to go somewhere for two seasons and then combusts, forcing a huge payoff. These days, Jorge Jesus seems to move on very quickly and upset a few people in the process. Sergio Conceicao stayed 7 years at Porto before falling out with Villas Boas (another coach in this mold). However, before that, he had 6 jobs in 7 years. Carlos Carvahal has had 23 jobs in 26 years. Nuno Espirito Santo has had 7 in 12. Leo Jardim has had 12 in 21 years (with only 3 jobs where he stayed over 2 years). Bruno Lage - 5 clubs in 5 years. Marco Silva had the same accusations of being a mercenary and hothead launched at him (after being at 5 clubs in 5 years) but seems to have settled at Fulham for now.

I do wonder whether Jorge Mendes provokes some of these guys to seek new clubs and compensation payoffs, even if it hurts their overall career progression, for the sake of extra money.

Thankfully we seem to have a Portuguese manager who seems more motivated by success than money.

One final point... with the quality of coach Portugal are producing, I have no clue why Martinez, a Spaniard, is your coach!
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Unfortunately, is a cultural problem imported by US mindsets. Your success is measured by being part of a big company or if you're wining a lot of money and that reflects a lot on football players and managers worldwide.
But Conceição was for different reasons though, he's not money oriented. He's a nutcase and it's a challenge to work with him due to his temper, even though I actually rate him as a manager: the things he did at Champions League with Porto with such and underwhelming squad is actually quite impressive.
 
Dream start against a relegation rival away fro home. When we will know if Cunha is banned?
 
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