New Wolves boss Vitor Pereira has vowed to encourage his side’s attacking instincts as he prepares to renew acquaintances with his Tottenham counterpart Ange Postecoglou on Sunday.
Pereira, who has got off to a flying start at Molineux with successive wins over Leicester and Manchester United in his first two games in charge, takes his side to north London where Postecoglou is coming under increasing pressure to curb his own all-out style.
Pereira recalled pitting his wits against Postecoglou in the AFC Champions League – when the duo managed Shanghai and Yokohama Marinos respectively – and he expects more of the same as Wolves bid to make it three wins in a row.
“He (Postecoglou) is a manager with different ideas, very offensive ideas and it means they are a team that can score a lot of goals,” said Pereira. “We need to be at our best level to compete with them.
“At that time they (Yokohama) had an incredible team and their style of play was, in my opinion, something special, very different. He did a fantastic job in Japan and now we face each other in England.
“He is a manager with a long career (but) I can speak about myself. I want to win games but play good football.
“Football for me is not just about results, it is about having an idea and to make the others believe in your way of playing.
“I don’t like a team facing games just to defend, this is not my (idea). I like to play. My teams play good football, with the ball, without it, with courage.”
Wolves are set to be boosted by the return of midfielder Mario Lemina, who has missed the last two games due to a calf injury. However However Pablo Sarabia is still set to be sidelined with a calf injury of his own.
