Vitor Pereira says his next ambition is to manage a Premier League club capable of challenging for the title, after describing Wolverhampton Wanderers’ survival campaign as comparable to winning the Champions League.
The 58-year-old Portuguese coach has been without a club since leaving Wolves. He said his career had followed a series of personal goals, including becoming a manager, working in a top league, winning domestic and overseas titles, and reaching the Premier League.
“Now my next goal is to reach a higher competitive level and be able to fight for the Premier League title,” Pereira told the second episode of the fourth season of the “90+3” video podcast, broadcast on A Bola TV.
Asked whether he also wanted to win the Champions League, Pereira replied: “That’s a goal for later.”
He added: “First, I must have the opportunity to reach that level. Of course, we can’t win the Champions League by coaching Wolverhampton Wanderers, and I mean no disrespect to the club. However, keeping Wolves in the Premier League that season felt like winning the Champions League for me.”
Pereira also discussed coaches who continually develop new ideas, citing Pep Guardiola and Roberto De Zerbi as examples of “Leonardo da Vinci-type coaches”. He also praised Jorge Jesus for his confidence and willingness to incorporate ideas from elsewhere.
“I admire his confidence. He says he can do something, and then he actually does it. Some of the things he does are really hard to explain, but he just does them!” Pereira said.
“At the same time, he also absorbs ideas from others. When we spot a trend, we think about it, design the corresponding training content, and integrate it into the tactical system we want to build.”
The coach from Espinho revealed that Guardiola had once taken one of his suggestions and used it in training immediately.
Pereira also recalled the 2013 meeting between Porto and Benfica that decided the Portuguese league title. Kelvin scored in the 90+2nd minute to give Porto victory and retain the championship.
“I started running towards Jorge Jesus, and he fell right in front of me. At that moment, I felt his pain,” Pereira said.
His celebration then caused his trousers to split.
“I started to bend over, and at that moment my trousers began to slip down. My underwear was showing, and I was crying with excitement,” he recalled, laughing.
Pereira had previously worked in Porto’s youth academy and said he returned to the club as an assistant coach in 2010 out of “gratitude”.
He had been preparing to begin his managerial career and was discussing a move from Santa Clara to Pacos de Ferreira. Instead, he chose to return to Porto.
When he first spoke to Porto senior executive Antero Henrique, Pereira did not know who would become head coach. He eventually returned as a coach and succeeded Andre Villas-Boas, now the club’s president.
“That immense love for the club… I’m not sure if I said it explicitly then, but you could clearly feel that Villas-Boas had his own plan for the club. He had ambition, a desire to achieve certain goals, and the ability to match,” Pereira said.
