Vitor Pereira walked away from Anfield with defeat as Wolves lost narrowly to the Premier League leaders.
Wolves’ Premier League record against Liverpool didn’t fill the Old Gold with much hope ahead of the fixture, with history repeating itself.
In the opening half, Wolves conceded two avoidable goals as Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah scored to put the hosts 2-0 up at the interval.
Pereira didn’t appreciate what he was seeing and made two substitutions at half-time, one of which contributed to Wolves’ goal as Jean-Ricner Bellegarde assisted Matheus Cunha.
Despite great pressure at the end of the contest, Wolves fell to their 16th defeat of the season but, can take plenty of positives from the game.
Vitor Pereira had an easy substitution to make at half-time vs Liverpool
Pereira wanted to take the game to Liverpool, which his players achieved to some degree as the win was by no means easy for the Reds to obtain.
Several players certainly impressed when the stakes couldn’t have been higher at Anfield however some were far from their best.
Wolves fans were fed up of Pablo Sarabia, who was one of two substitutes Pereira made at half-time.
Both Sarabia and Goncalo Guedes lasted only 45 minutes against Liverpool, something that journalist Nathan Judah considered to be a glaringly obvious switch for the Wolves manager to make.
“Don’t think Pereira will have an easier decision this season than taking Sarabia & Guedes off,” the Wolves reporter said live from Anfield, expressing his dissatisfaction at the duo’s contribution.
Between them, the two forwards completed only 16 passes, via Sofascore, having a minimal impact on proceedings, triggering the double switch at the interval.
Wolves fans will appreciate Pereira’s approach to substitutions
While the Spaniard and the Portuguese forward might not appreciate being hooked at half-time, it’s something that Wolves fans will certainly welcome.
Gary O’Neil was criticised for his substitutions during his time as manager, whether that be due to poor selection or poor timing.
Against Liverpool, Pereira wasted no time in making changes despite being 2-0 down, refusing to go down without a fight as his tweaks worked.
Marshall Munetsi and Bellegarde combined effortlessly moments after being introduced, creating a chance that the debutant arguably should’ve scored.
Despite the defeat, there were plenty of positives to take and plenty of lessons learned, handing Pereira something to think about when selecting his starting XI for the next game.