Julen Lopetegui has said that he and his Wolves players are all taking English lessons to improve communication.
The new manager has been in charge for around a month now, and is slowly putting his stamp on the squad.
He’s got a full team of coaches in now, and he’s had a few weeks with the players to get to know them.
Currently, they’re all out in Marbella doing warm weather training.
It has been a productive trip, and they will play their second and final training match against Cadiz on Wednesday, before coming back to the UK.
Wanderers are then back in action on Tuesday against Gillingham in the Carabao Cup.
Lopetegui has sat down with the club to conduct a new interview, in which he talks about Marbella, getting used to life at a new club and the January transfer window.
Lopetegui also spoke about how he and the players are all learning English.
When told by Wolves presenter Gemma Frith that his English was fantastic, he humbly replied: “No, No, no! I have to improve. I promise I’m going to improve a lot.
“But I am brave. I speak without fear of making a mistake. In the match, it’s the same. The players didn’t have or show fear. It’s a mistake but I go ahead. It’s the same. Sorry, but I am going to improve!
“It think it’s important (to all speak good English). I know that I have Spanish and Portuguese players but, for the respect of the culture, and the country, and the club, I have to be able to translate my messages in English. I try. I’m convinced of this.
“If I don’t get to translate a message, I use Edu (Rubio)!”
This is the second time Lopetegui has vowed to improve his English. He said the same in an interview with Guillem Balague after Wolves lost to Arsenal last month.
Julen Lopetegui and the Wolves players taking English lessons can only be a good thing
It is absolutely brilliant to hear something like this.
Lopetegui is clearly very big on effective communication, and it’s great that he is also taking lessons as well as the players. He is not demanding anything he wouldn’t do himself.
Lopetegui doing lessons, even though is English is already a fairly good standard, will only endear him more to the players and earn their respect.
Many members of Wolves’ first-team already speak English fairly fluently. But Lopetegui having everyone take lessons creates a sense of unity and equality.
Hopefully, this practice will help Wolves become more cohesive out on the pitch, and help ideas to become executed better.