Vitor Pereira interview: Wolves manager breaks down his team's tactics after mixed start at Molineux

Vitor Pereira came to Wolves with a blank canvas, a tactical philosophy - and a desire to paint a picture at Molineux.

If you listen to the Portuguese manager, his desire to make football an art is clear. He often compares managers setting up teams with painting, referring to Pep Guardiola, Roberto De Zerbi and other influences as "Davinci" coaches.

"With football, I can express my creativity. Creativity is something that I have in myself, inside of me, and I need to express it," Pereira tells Zone Sporty VIP from the analysis room in Wolves' training ground.

"And I express by creating a style to play. This is why I said that it's like a painting. Each club, each team, we can create a different style of play.

"I try to play with quality. I like to see the teams with the ball, creating things, being protagonists. And this is what I want to create here, something with identity."

So how has that identity gone from pen to paper, from ink to canvas, from idea to vision? And how can it be done at a Premier League club sitting near the bottom of the table and searching for every ounce of confidence?

Pereira broke down his tactical game model to Zone Sporty VIP, in his bid to turn a relegation-threatened club's fortunes around.

The first job for Pereira was to fix a leaky Wolves defence. The 48 goals conceded so far is the fifth most out of any Premier League team after 21 games. Out of the five teams to have conceded 47 goals or more at this stage of the stage, four of them were relegated.

But the good news for the club is Pereira is known for his compact, defensive structure - and Wolves' defensive numbers have improved in his first few games.

This is no surprise, given this is the same coach Pep Guardiola called up while Bayern Munich manager to get some advice on defensive structures in his team.

Pereira has implemented a strict back three - compared to Gary O'Neil who flip-flopped between a three and a four in defence. But protecting that backline in a more solid team block has been key to the improved defence.

It is known commonly in the game as a 'mid block' - a mix between a high press and a low block, but a tactic perfect for a team who wants to press in short bursts, as Pereira teams do.

What Pereira instructs is his Wolves team to sit and wait for their chance, wait for their opponents to provoke a pressing trigger. Then they jump up and try to steal the ball.

A pressing trigger could be anything, according to Pereira. It could be a bad touch, a negative square or backwards pass, a ball through his Wolves team's lines - or simply just a slight hesitation in possession.

It could even be an opposition player deemed weaker on the ball by the Wolves team. "Sometimes, we analyse that one centre-back is better than the other one in building, so I will try to invite them to the other centre-back, in the side that we want to press," says Pereira.

"To have a good defensive organisation, we don't need to press every time. But we must understand the moments to press together. We close the block, and we wait for the trigger.

"It's not every time the same trigger. It depends on the opponent team - what they want to do, where they want to play. And we wait for the right moment to start our pressure.

"Sometimes, we try to go in high pressure, to go in the last third to press. Other times, we block the team off, stay compact and we organise the team to start the defensive trigger."

Perhaps Wolves' best presser and chief trigger analyser is Matheus Cunha, who backs up some impressive form in front of goal with some encouraging work-rate numbers.

The Brazilian has adopted a slightly deeper role under Pereira compared to life under O'Neil at Molineux. His ability to progress the ball up the pitch through carries means he can still affect the ball at the top end of the pitch.

But a deeper role means Cunha can contribute defensively and help out if Wolves lose the ball. "This is the spirit that I want in my team," says Pereira. "In the moment that we lose the ball, we must give the example to everybody.

"He's a captain, he's a top player. He's a perfect player. Because he's a player who, if he receives the ball in the right zones, he can decide the game. He has the qualities to decide the game.

"He's fast with the ball. He's unpredictable with the ball. He can create something special. He can score goals. It means that he has everything that we want from a creative player in a creative game. But he must show his commitment."

There are triggers in attack too, particularly given Pereira's Wolves like to start by playing out from the back - a process described by Pereira as 'cooking the play'.

Attacks are 'cooked' by the back three. "They have freedom to support the attack," says Pereira. But there is a twist to this back three - as it does not, nor should it ever, consist of three centre-backs.

Pereira insists on having at least one full-back in his backline, right-back Matt Doherty featuring in every single one of Pereira's back threes is the prime example of this.

The reason for it? Pereira wants a ball-player there and full-backs are technically superior to centre-backs. Playing out from the back requires quality on the ball.

And just like with the press, Wolves use patient triggers to advance attacks. They invite the press, find the space and then attack it once that space opens.

"Even the centre-backs, I want them to create a game and to decide, every time, to have the intention to attack the free spaces," says Pereira.

"We try to attract the pressure and to open spaces to attack these spaces. It means that we have an intention when we have the ball. We have the intention to create some spaces and to put the ball in these spaces."

But there is a problem. And it relates to, after a three-game unbeaten start for Pereira, Wolves' form has dipped in recent games.

In their recent defeats to Nottingham Forest and Newcastle, Wolves have struggled to make the most of their attacking triggers as of late. That is because they have failed to find their manager's 'box'.

The 'box' is Pereira's term for the half space in the middle of the pitch, where creative players sit to link the defence to the attack. If Wolves are in transition, an attacking player in 'the box' is crucial, must be found and then that player relieves pressure on the defence.

"This is one of the principles of my game," says Pereira. "If I want to control the game and I want to create a chance to score, I need to put the best players around the ball. Every time around the ball."

But when players are not in the 'box' regularly, the game plan starts to crumble and teams are not compact.

"We tried to find the men in the box. But the men in the box were not there," says Pereira. "It means that the position of the game was not correct.

"And this is the time to go to the analysis board and to explain to them: 'Look, in this moment, the free space is here. And you are not there.'"

The other side of the game is to be more patient while 'cooking the play'. As of late, Wolves' attacks have been rushed forwards, allowing those key creative players little time to get up the pitch and into the 'box'.

This is what Pereira meant when he said, in his first Wolves press conference, that he wanted to implement a 'tactical GPS' on his team.

"This is the next step," he says. "We must find the right moment to go fast and the right moment to slow down and to keep the ball and to be patient to cook the play. This is something that we need to improve in the future.

"I don't want a team. I want an intelligent team. We don't need to run too much. Because a lot of times, we run but we shouldn't. I want to run in the right moment.

"When we recognise the offensive trigger, this is the moment to run. This is the moment to go fast. I need to receive the ball in the free spaces. In half spaces. And this is something that takes time to understand."

The idea of having attacking and defensive triggers as key principles means Pereira's tactics are not too complicated for this Wolves team.

It is why, when Wolves go to Chelsea on Monday Night Football, live on Zone Sporty VIP, his team will play exactly the same way as if he were playing one of his relegation rivals at home.

"Of course, the team on the other side, sometimes, force us to defend more than other teams," says Pereira.

"But we must go with the intentionality to play, to play our football, to play good football, to be organised, to understand the moments to press, to understand the moments to wait, to understand the moments to go fast, the moments to slow down. For me, this is creating identity.

"If I go to face Chelsea, I go with intention. If I go to face Newcastle, we go with our identity and we try to play our game. This is the mentality that I want to have in my team."

So, it doesn't change? "No. Never."

Watch Chelsea vs Wolves live on Zone Sporty VIP' Monday Night Football this week from 6.30pm; kick-off 8pm