Vitor Pereira is finally set to fulfil his dream of coaching in the Premier League.
The Portuguese waited for the opportunity to come for more than a decade, and is the man chosen by Wolves to succeed Gary O’Neil.
The fact he has not managed in England before is, by his own admission, partly due to “an addiction” to management that meant he did not want to stay out of a job for long.
That desire to work was behind some of the career moves he has made since his back-to-back Primeira Liga titles with Porto in 2012 and 2013.
“I was convinced I’d go to Everton [in 2013],” Pereira previously told Canal 11. “I had attended a meeting with them and was expecting to move to the English league, which was my obsession.
“And suddenly, because I lacked patience, I changed direction. The addiction was so strong – and it still is – but back then, the addiction was overwhelming, and I couldn’t go so long without being active.
“I didn’t end up going to Everton because my English was poor, very poor. I struggled with the language. I went to a meeting and didn’t understand half of what was said to me.”
Spaniard Roberto Martinez was chosen instead, while Pereira moved to Saudi club Al-Ahli.
Lots has changed since, including Pereira’s English skills.
The 56-year-old has also gone from a professional rated so highly that Jose Mourinho once referred to him as “more than an assistant manager” – many in Portugal believed he was more influential to Porto’s historic treble campaign in 2010-11 than boss Andre Villas-Boas – to become a sort of a journeyman.
Pereira has taken on several different jobs across the globe, working in Saudi Arabia (Al-Ahli and Al-Shabab), Greece (Olympiacos), Turkey (Fenerbahce), Germany (1860 Munich), China (Shanghai SIPG) and Brazil (Corinthians and Flamengo).
The Premier League came knocking again a few more times, but he was never deemed the right fit.
“I did many job interviews with English clubs. On one occasion, I was already preparing for my debut match…” Pereira told Mais Futebol.
Pereira will be now hoping to prove the wait was worth it by saving struggling Wolves from relegation.
“Vitor is a self-made man,” says his former right-hand man Rui Quinta.
“He came from humble beginnings [a fishing neighbourhood in his birth town of Espinho, where the ocean sometimes flowed into his house], from a difficult social background where some of his friends went down the wrong path in life.
“But he chose to study, coached at youth level, then at senior level, and is now at the top.”
A thesis on Cruyff and advising Guardiola
Pereira spent his entire playing career as a centre-back in the Portuguese lower tiers, before retiring aged 29 – but he has no regrets.
He has always wanted to be a coach.
So much so that, even before hanging up his boots, he was already preparing by starting a degree in physical education in Porto. His graduation thesis discussed his favourite side – Johan Cruyff’s Barcelona.
“He had a soft spot for the culture of that Barcelona team. He needed to choose a topic, and since he had this passion and could only think about football, it wasn’t a difficult decision,” his tutor Vitor Frade said.
“He was only interested in football. He would tell me straight to my face: ‘I’m only here to become a coach.’
“I’ve had many students writing theses on Cruyff and Barcelona, but, if you’ll excuse the expression, none of them were as nit-picky as Vitor. I believe he even went to Barcelona to watch some training sessions and had his house full of tapes.”
Pereira did not stop there.
He also travelled to Munich to watch Pep Guardiola train Bayern for a week, claiming afterwards to have advised him on how to fix some of the German side’s problems.
“We discussed Bayern’s defeat by Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final [in 2014],” Pereira told Record newspaper.
“I told him exactly what I thought: ‘Pep, in certain matches, you’re still exposing your defensive line during transitions. This and that are happening to you. That’s my opinion, if you want to reflect on it.’ He agreed and replied: ‘You’re right.”’
A temper – but ‘an extraordinary heart’
Despite his love affair with Barcelona, Pereira has not always managed to make his sides play entertaining football.
He has made himself known instead for a tactically flexible approach, describing it as a ‘transformer structure’ which allows his teams to change system during games.
However, this can sometimes prove a bit too flexible, given he has been criticised by his own players for training one way and playing another.
“There were situations [at Corinthians] where we played with a back five, which we had never trained for. One day, he said: ‘Look, I’ve realised this doesn’t work.’ But in the very next match, there we were with a back five again. That kind of thing frustrated the players,” said former Brazil international Giuliano.
That was not the main issue in his recent roles, though.
Pereira has admitted lacking communication skills, and that has been clear both with the media and the players.
He was widely criticised – and later apologised – for bringing up his bank balance after being asked in a news conference if he was scared of getting sacked.
“You must be joking with me, mate,” he told a reporter in Brazil. “You’ve got to be kidding me with that question. At this stage of my life, of my career, do you think I’m afraid of losing my job? Do you have any idea how much money I’ve got in the bank, mate?
“My life is stable, I don’t need to worry… I’m here at Corinthians, and if it’s not Corinthians, it’ll be another club. Whenever I want.”
Pereira’s temper and willingness to speak his mind can also be a problem in the dressing room.
His explosive nature and ‘my way or the highway’ approach have not gone down well with some of his players in the past.
Pereira can be hot-headed and says whatever he thinks he has to say to whoever needs to hear it. It is part of his personality he credits to his humble roots, but also a mechanism of self-defence.
He has also said he does not know how to deal with “spoiled players” – “rich kids that have never suffered, and don’t know how to suffer in life”.
Several Corinthians players publicly welcomed his departure from the club after just 10 months in 2022.
“We were happy that he was leaving, I don’t need to lie,” said winger Roger Guedes.
Controlling his passionate nature will be key if he is to succeed with Wolves in his first Premier League adventure.
“Sometimes he goes overboard with the amount of time he spends worrying about things related to the team and the players,” said Quinta.
“I’ve told him this a few times: it’s important to step away occasionally, take a breather, and come back with full energy. He’s a coach who has an extraordinary heart.”
