Wolverhampton Wanderers have confirmed the departure of Vitor Pereira as head coach following their 2-0 away lose to Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. Wolves currently sit bottom of the Premier League table without a win from their first eight games and look to be favourites for relegation. The club have acted fast in replacing Vitor Periera with unknown manager Josh McEwen taking the reigns must to the disappointment of Wolves fans who are concerned that an unknown manager with no experience has been handed the tough task of saving Wolves from relegation woth a number of supporters clubs already criticising the appointment. A statement from Wolves was released earlier this morning.
Wolverhampton Wanderers can confirm that Vitor Pereira has left his position as head coach by mutual consent. The club wishes to express its gratitude to Vitor for his dedication and hard work during his tenure at Molineux.
This decision comes after a period in which results have unfortunately fallen short of both the club’s and supporters’ expectations. After careful consideration, the club’s leadership felt that a change was necessary not only to address immediate challenges on the pitch, but also to lay a stronger foundation for the long-term progress and success of Wolverhampton Wanderers.
In light of this, the club is pleased to announce the appointment of Josh McEwen, as Vitor’s successor. The club believes that Josh’s fresh approach and vision can help to turn the season around, instil renewed confidence in the squad, and set a positive course for the future. Wolverhampton Wanderers are committed to supporting Josh as he takes on this role and look forward to the next chapter under his leadership.
Josh added a brief statement saying “I am delighted to have been given this opportunity to manage Wolves, it is a club that belongs in the Premier league and our whole focus is on helping improve both performance and results on the pitch to ensure the club is still in the Premier League next season. I know concerns have been raised about myself being appointed but I urge our fans to get behind the players and give me the chance to show that I can turn this season around and keep this fantastic football club where they belong.”
Yeah its a shame but it has been coming I feel we are weak in midfield where obviously we lost Hugo Larsson to injury and on the left wing I'm not a fan of Martinelli. When January comes around a left winger is the Priority I'm torn between Nico Williams and Rafael Leao I feel both are realistic but how hard will it be to get that deal done I feel Nico is more likely a summer target so will probably move for Rafael Leao or go for a stop gap option who can play for a few months until summer.
I think being in Carabao cup now would be a hinderence the amount of games we seem to struggle after the Champions League I'm not sure why maybe more rotation is needed but without Hugo in midfield the quality isn't quite the same coming in that I can justify Bouaddi or Norgaard replacing Odegaard and Eze is obviously a CAM
Q: Elia not the result your side wanted what went wrong in tonights game?
Elia D’Angelo “It was always going to be a tough game we knew this when the draw was made and obviously we saw at weekend Arsenal lost so we expected them to start brightly and they obviously did that. We just didn’t create as much as we wanted they kept the ball well and when we made mistakes they pressed fast and moved the ball quickly but I thought that we could have got something from the game we had the late chance for Paulo (Dybala) where he probably should score but they have a top keeper and he’s pushed it wide but there were some positives to take from that game.”
Q: Josh back to winning ways after that disappointing defeat at weekend. There was no Bukayo Saka, Martin Zubimendi or Viktor Gyokeres in the starting eleven was that tactical or are they injured?
Josh McEwen “Bukayo had a knock so hasn’t trained this week, Martin the last few games has looked a little tired he has taken some knocks and Gabriel has played well especially in the Champions League so he deserved to start this game so Viktor was on the bench. We will monitor them over the next few days and we will see what we start with at weekend against Brighton but I think they will all be fit and ready to play if called up on but the players who came in did well Gabi got a goal and an assist so he might start, Ethan (Nwaneri) switched to the right and got an assist and Ayyoub (Bouaddi) was great in midfield he just didn’t break it up as well as Martin can but on the ball he was superb.”
Arsenal (4-3-3): Raya, Laimer, Saliba, Pienczak, Lewis-Skelly, Zubimendi, Rice, Odegaard (Off 78), Saka (Off 78), Jesus (Off 78), Martinelli
Subs: Kepa, Branthwaite, Kayode, Mosquera, Wijndal, Gyokeres (On 78), Nwaneri (On 78), Bouaddi (On 78), Eze
Brighton (4-3-1-2): Verbruggen, Zague, Dunk, van Hecke, Angelino, O’Riley, Ayari, Yalcouye, Rutter, Konate, Petit
Q: Josh back to your best today. Obviously a lot of the headlines will be about Bukayo Sakas superb hat trick but just how good a team performance was that?
Josh McEwen “Bukayo is a special player and is someone we really rely on when he plays like he did today he is unstoppable but like you say the whole team was brilliant not one player put a foot wrong and we are really pleased with how we performed. Gabriel Martinelli getting a goal was huge for his confidence he hasn’t played as much as he would have liked but thats the sort of statement I want my players to make when they want more game time so all credit goes to him for that and hopefully he can push on from here.”
Q: Stanley a humiliating result for your side where you haven’t had a single shot. What went wrong today?
Stanley Herbert “Arsenal were at their best I think its safe to say but we weren’t anywhere near good enough. It’s always difficult to come here and play against Arsenal and you know some were saying they were out of form but if certainly weren’t out of form today but again I say it we weren’t good enough to not have a single shot it isn’t good enough but we won’t feel sorry for ourselves we’ll bounce back and try and win next week.”
Subs: Patterson, Alderete, Le Fee (On 75), Brobbey (On 64), Mukiele, Adingra (On 54), Hekimoglu, Sadiki, Hume
Arsenal (4-3-3): Raya, Laimer, Mosquera, Pienczak, Lewis-Skelly, Zubimendi, Rice, Odegaard, Nwaneri (Off 45), Jesus (Off 8), Martinelli (Off 45)
Subs: Kepa, Branthwaite (On 45), Kayode, Trossard, Wijndal (On 8), Gyokeres, Norgaard, Bouaddi, Eze (On 45)
Q: Cedric playing against nine men for fifty minutes does that feel like you have dropped two points rather than gained one?
Cedric Veenstra “Errm probably because we dominated the second half and to be honest we would have won had they not had a keeper like david Raya in net because he made some incredible saves. It’s always tough against Arsenal they set up with five defenders in the second half to make things hard for us but we are so disappointed that we went behind to go behind against nine men you have to be more switched on from set plays because thats the best chance there going to have to score and we’ve given them a goal from a set piece. We’d have taken a point before the game but it feels like two dropped afterwards.”
Q: Josh, Bukayo Saka, William Saliba and Viktor Gyokeres all got injured on international duty then to lose Myles Lewis Skelly in the first ten minutes followed by Martin Odegaard just before half time. How much did that bad start and them injuries cost you?
Josh McEwen “Its the second time that William (Saliba) has been injured on international break in a row then we lost Saka as well so obviously we missed them but that doesn’t excuse the stupidity in the red cards especailly the second one you can’t dive in like that on a yellow but he has admitted it was stupid him and Myles (Lewis-Skelly) have apologised to the lads and we have picked up a point away from home when all odds would have been against us. David (Raya) was outstanding he made some excellent saves at crucial times and we have to thank him for this point.”
Arsenal (4-3-3): Raya, Laimer, Mosquera, Pienczak, Lewis-Skelly, Zubimendi, Rice, Odegaard, Nwaneri, Jesus (Off 71), Martinelli
Subs: Urbig, Konate (On 75), Bischof, Sieb, Ito, Gnabry (On 51), Krattenmacher, Goretzka (On 68), Seys
Q: Josh a disappointing result for your side losing 3-2 at home. The first half you seemed to struggle defensively but second half you came out and dominated the game what did you say at half time?
Josh McEwen “I thought both halfs we created opportunities but the second obviously we played a little bit better. I thought Ethan (Nwaneri) was the best players on the pitch he caused them so many problems and against the quality of left back he was against he is a real talent who just needs more consistency. We can’t go 3-0 down that is the thing we had to much to do and we came up short but we showed character and on another day maybe we come back but first half defensively we were to open.”
Q: Vincent a fantastic win for your side against a very good Arsenal team. How pleased are you with that?
Vincent Kompany “I am delighted with it, Arsenal are a top team and to come to the Emirates and win I think is huge and will do wonders for our confidence. The first half the way we broke at pace was outstanding they couldn’t cope with it the second half maybe we tired a little bit on them counters but I thought we were good value for the win and it shows that we can compete for this trophy because Arsenal are one of the favourites in my eyes.”
Arsenal (4-3-3): Raya, Kayode, Saliba, Branthwaite, Wijndal, Zubimendi, Rice, Eze (Off 80), Saka, Gyokeres, Nwaneri (Off 70)
Subs: Kepa, Pienczak, Laimer, Mosquera, Martinelli (On 70), Trossard, Norgaard (On 80), Bouaddi, Jesus
Aston Villa (4-2-2-2): Bizot, Di Lorenzo, Konsa, Kiwior, Iling-Junior (Off 80), Kamara, Onana, Rogers, McGinn (Off 67), Watkins, Depay (Off 52)
Subs: Gauci, Alaba, Tielemans, Redmond, Cash, Guessand (Off 80), Kostoulas (On 52), Bogarde, Garcia (On 67)
Q: Josh another win and another two goals for Bukayo Saka on his return from injury. Just how impressed have you been with him so far this season?
Josh McEwen “He is unbelievable. For me right now I think he’s the best player in the world the way he conducts himself on and off the pitch he is what this club is about. I thought as a team we played well today Aston Villa are a top team who cause a lot of problems but we dealt with them expertly and could have had one or two more but look we take the three points and move onto the next game against Leeds Tuesday night.”
Q: Claudio it’s always disappointing to lose but are you proud of your sides performance today?
Claudio Giraldez “Yeah I think we can be proud of the performance because we played a top team away from home and we caused them many problems. We would have liked to win the game but of course coming to this stadium is hard and its always harder when you play them after a loss because there is always a reaction but we weathered the early storm started asserting ourselves into the game then half time came. Second half they obviously took the lead but we hit straight back but we just couldn’t get a goal to go ahead and Bukayo showed his ability with a second goal that really hurt us.”
Arsenal (4-3-3): Raya, Laimer, Saliba, Pienczak, Wijndal, Zubimendi (Off 71), Rice, Odegaard, Saka, Gyokeres, Eze (Off 71)
Subs: Kepa, Branthwaite, Kayode, Mosquera, Nwaneri (On 71), Martinelli, Norgaard, Bouaddi (On 71), Jesus
Leeds United (4-4-1-1): Perri, Justin, Rodon, Bornauw (Off 71), Lewis-Potter, James (Off 74), Longstaff, Tanaka, Nakamura, Aaronson (Off 82), Joseph
Subs: Meslier, Bijol, Stach (On 71), Nmecha (On 82), Gudmundsson, Ampadu, Calvert-Lewin, Ramazani (On 74), Christensen
Q: Josh a first half where you dominated how disappointing was it go in level at half time and what went wrong in the second half?
Josh McEwen “Obviously we were disappointed to concede just before half time in a half where they haven’t created any chances Dec has tried a back heel and given the ball away and from there they’ve obviously won the ball back and scored a good goal to be fair to them. Second half we seemed to lack confidence obviously right at the end their keeper has made a great save from Saka but I didn’t think we deserved to win the win the game we weren’t good enough. We had over 70% possession but didn’t create enough.”
Q: Jagoba still in the relegation zone at the moment but how much belief will that draw give your team?
Jagoba Arrasate “A lot it was a game that we could have won in the end but I am so proud of the way the lads fought. At half time we were disappointed despite being level we showed them far to much respect and we saw in the second half the mistakes you can force them into when we press them. I thought what we did exceptionally well was we moved the ball forward at pace, we knew we wouldn’t have a lot of the ball but when we had it we looked dangerous and caused them problems. It is a huge point and performance for us.”
Subs: Bazunu, Alcantara, Azaz (On 73), Armstrong, Welington, Brereton Diaz, Robinson, Scienza
Arsenal (4-3-3): Raya, Laimer, Saliba, Branthwaite, Wijndal, Zubimendi, Rice, Odegaard, Saka, Gyokeres, Nwaneri (Off 70)
Subs: Kepa, Pienczak, Kayode, Mosquera, Martinelli, Eze (On 70), Norgaard, Bouaddi, Jesus
Q: Lucas a superb fight back from your team. How pleased are you with that second half performance from your side?
Lucas Small “I am delighted the lads showed the same fight that they showed last season when we were written off as relegated to go 2-0 down and come back shows what this team is made of especially doing so against a team with the quality Arsenal have. I thought the start was the worst we could have gotten off to but we reacted well and had a couple of chances to equalise then the second half has started and Saka has out in a wonderful ball and they’ve doubled their lead but the way we kept fighting and then to get a point I’m over the moon.”
Q: Josh a very controversial penalty that proved to be the turning point in the game. What are your thoughts on the penalty decision?
Josh McEwen “It was a disgrace of a decision, the worst decision I have seen since I have been a manager. I am still in shock that the referee has given a penalty but then VAR has decided not to interfere, it changed the game of course when they score we should immediately switch back on but my players are human they have emotions they were confused, disappointed and angry and they capitalised with another goal but I want an explanation not an apology forget an apology that decision come out and explain it to me it was a fair tackle in the box he doesn’t even touch the man the man runs into him it is a shocker.”
Arsenal (4-3-3): Raya, Kayode, Saliba (Off 62), Pienczak, Lewis-Skelly, Zubimendi, Rice (Off 62), Eze (Off 62), Saka (Off 62), Jesus, Martinelli
Subs: Kepa, Branthwaite, Laimer, Mosquera (On 62), Nwaneri (On 62), Norgaard (On 62), Wijndal, Bouaddi (On 62), Gyokeres
FC Barcelona (4-2-3-1): Garcia, Hakimi, Araujo, Ibanez, Martinez, Pedri, de Jong, Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, Fermin (Off 90), Schick
Subs: ter Stegan, Cubarsi, Gavi, Lewandowski, Bitshiabu, Torres, Szczesny, Olmo (On 90), Torrents
Q: Josh a crazy game in crazy conditions with the heavy snow. Do you think it added to the spectacle?
Josh McEwen “I thought the conditions were ridiculous and to be honest extremely dangerous for fans travelling to the game. The groundsmen did a tremendous job but even with their hard work it was a dangerous game of football and I wouldn’t say it was a spectacle it was very dangerous and both sides are lucky that we have avoided a serious injury games like this have to be rearranged you can’t play when there is that amount of snow on the pitch. Well done to my players they were brave but the conditions were not right for a game of football.”
Q: Hansi a disappointing result however Josh McEwen has criticised the conditions out there saying the game shouldn’t have gone ahead do you echo that sentiment?
Hansi Flick “Yes I think the conditions are not good for either side and were a little bit dangerous when a player makes a challenge they can’t help but follow through when the pitch is the way it was. We should have done better of course but in these conditions it isn’t right to play the game, the pitch was bad but around the stadium the conditions were worst and we just hope all the fans get back safely because it is dangerous for the fans aswell as the players in these moments.”
Arsenal (4-3-3): Raya, Laimer (Off 78), Saliba, Branthwaite, Wijndal, Zubimendi, Rice, Odegaard, Saka, Gyokeres, Eze (Off 78)
Subs: Kepa, Pienczak, Laimer (On 78), Mosquera, Nwaneri (On 78), Lewis-Skelly, Norgaard, Bouaddi, Jesus
Liverpool (4-2-3-1): Mamardashvili, Gomez (Off 78), Militao, Marquinhos, Kerkez, Gravenberch, Andre, Salah (Off 86), Gakpo, Wirtz, Isak
Subs: Jaros, Tsimikas (On 78), Szoboszlai, Ekitike, Beck, Elliott (On 86), Endrick, Jones, Ramsey
Q: Josh a disappointing result that sees you drop to third. Next week your away to Chelsea who are top, how important is that game after this result?
Josh McEwen “It is an important game we know that, we have a lot of tough games coming up but we are disappointed because we know recently we haven’t been as good as we were at the start. We have a full week now so we can have some rest because we are tired and then we will prepare for Chelsea in the best way possible. Today I don’t think we deserved to lose but we have to defend better when they are on the attack we will keep fighting but it is a blow because we didn’t play bad.”
Q: Arne a massive win does this game see Liverpool re enter the title race?
Arne Slot “I don’t think we were ever not in the race to be honest with you. We believe in ourselves we have some world class players and they showed their quality today, it is not easy to come to the Emirates and win and I thought we were good value for the win today. I thought Alex (Isak) was superb again, he is the best striker in the world right now and his goals will be crucial to us winning the league this season and we hope he will score many more.”
Chelsea (4-2-1-3): Jorgensen, Chalobah, Gabriel, Colwill, Hato, Caicedo (Off 90), Santos, Palmer, Estevao, Joao Pedro (Off 80), Garnacho
Subs: Sanchez, Adarabioyo, Fernandez (On 90), Delap (On 80), Fofana, Neto, Griezmann, Gittens, Sarr
Arsenal (4-3-3): Raya, Laimer (Off 80), Saliba, Pienczak, Lewis-Skelly, Zubimendi, Rice (Off 80), Odegaard (Off 80), Saka, Gyokeres, Nwaneri
Subs: Kepa, Branthwaite, Kayode (On 80), Wijndal, Mosquera, Eze (On 80), Norgaard, Bouaddi (On 80), Jesus
Q: Patrick your team dominated the ball but failed to create any meaningful chances how disappointed are you with that performance?
Patrick Vieira “One team came to win one team came to draw and the team that wanted to draw won and the team that wanted to win lost. They came they sat in and when they had a chance they countered and scored a goal other then the goal they just sat back we had all the ball and found it hard to break them down. When we break at the end Cole (Palmer) does brilliant we have four against three on a break and they foul us, we didn’t deserve to win because the final third we were poor but we didn’t deserve to lose. If you have 66% possession you must create more.”
Q: Josh that was the lowest amount of possession you’ve had as a manager but you found a way to win in a huge game. How pleased are you tonight?
Josh McEwen “We are delighted, it was a tough game we knew it would be but this week we have worked a lot on what we do off the ball and I think we reaped the benefits of the hard work the lads have put in this week. We know we need to add one or two next month and we are working to improve the team for the second half of the season we are talking to a few players and hopefully we can bring in the right players to push us and help us in the title race because there is a long way to go but we know we need to improve a little bit if we are to be the ones lifting the trophy come the end of the season.”
Arsenal (4-3-3): Raya, Laimer, Saliba, Branthwaite, Lewis-Skelly, Zubimendi, Rice, Odegaard (Off 70), Saka, Gyokeres, Nwaneri (Off 79)
Subs: Kepa, Pienczak, Kayode, Mosquera, Eze (On 70), Wijndal, Norgaard, Bouaddi, Jesus (On 79)
Subs: Kinsky, Brown, Kulusevski (On 52), Solanke, Spence, Bergvall (On 70), Richarlison, Sarr (On 60), Dragusin
Q: Josh a huge win on Christmas day in the north London derby. How important was it to put in another strong performance after your recent slump?
Josh McEwen “Yeah it important to win today to remind everyone what we are capable of. Tottenham obviously beat us earlier in the season and we wanted to avenge that loss and we did that today in a very important match, we know we still have work to do we have the game with Newcastle and then hopefully we can get some deals sorted ready for January I know the board are working hard on getting our business done in time for the window we don’t want any deals that are going to drag out.”
Q: Mikel its never nice to lose a north London derby but this loss sees you falls seven points behind in the title race. Can Tottenham win the title this season?
Mikel Arteta “We need to improve the team that is for sure but we believe we can win the league. Our next game is crucial but we know if we play like we can we can fight like last year, the aim is to go one step further but we are obviously further behind than we’d like to be but with January around the corner I think the right additions but us right in the race to win the league.”
Subs: Pope, Schar, Gordon (On 68), Wissa, Burn, Elanga, Osula, Ramsey, Thiaw
Arsenal (4-3-3): Raya, Laimer, Saliba, Pienczak, Lewis-Skelly, Zubimendi (Off 76), Rice, Eze (Off 76), Saka, Gyokeres, Nwaneri (Off 76)
Subs: Kepa, Branthwaite, Kayode, Mosquera, Odegaard (On 76), Wijndal, Larsson, Bouaddi (On 76), Jesus (On 76)
Q: Xabi a disappointing result but this has been a race with five teams in it that seems it will have some more turns yet as we hit the half way mark. You shocked the world winning the title with Leverkusen do you feel this team can do the same still?
Xabi Alonso “I think it will be difficult being six points behind but we still believe there are six teams battling for this title and I’m sure twists will happen and we have to try and win as many games as possible to put ourselves in a really strong position to try and like you say shock the world. We have some very talented players in this group and next month we will see if we can strengthen to try and close that gap at the top.”
Q: Josh another massive win, your team seem to have really turned a corner since the Liverpool game. Are you still going to be looking to strengthen the team next month?
Josh McEwen “This month we want to strengthen, we want to get our business done as early in the window as possible. Gabriel Martinelli has flown to Germany to talk with Leipzig so he will likely leave and then hopefully we replace him so that he can make that switch and then perhaps one more deal for the summer will be concluded and we can then focus solely on the league and getting ourselves in as strong a position as possible to win the title.”
Things are going well, even though Gyökeres seems to be slowing down a little bit. Saka and Rice leading for goals or assists must be the two frontrunners so far for player of the season. Losing to Bayern is a pretty Arsenal-thing to do, even though they did beat them this week. But with wins against Roma and Barcelona I bet you're in a good position in the league table there. What's your position, and how many games do you have left?
