Matt Doherty isn’t just enjoying his second spell with Wolves, he is also enjoying arguably the best spell of his career.
Although Doherty has been a key figure since he returned to Molineux in 2023, including under Gary O’Neil, it has been Vitor Pereira who has got the very best out of the Irishman.
Doherty has spent most of his career playing as a right-sided attacking wing-back, but Pereira’s decision to include him as one of three centre-backs has proven to be a stroke of genius.
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Vitor Pereira has transformed Matt Doherty
Despite leaving Wolves and making a big move to Spurs in 2020, the Dublin-born defender struggled to make the step up.
Speaking to the Irish Independent before he left London to join Atletico Madrid just 28 months later, Doherty explained why he failed to thrive under Jose Mourinho, claiming too much focus was being put on defensive duties — an area of the game he felt he didn’t excel in.
“I let him [Mourinho] down. People think he was bad for me, but it was the other way around,” he said. “He put a lot of faith in me and I didn’t really perform. I just didn’t play well, I just didn’t grasp it … I don’t know. I just wasn’t able to get going there at the start.
“The shape was obviously different [from Wolves]. The difference was that, at Tottenham, they have so much ability going forward, with the players they have, that maybe I wasn’t necessarily needed to play high and create stuff. So my main job was maybe just to be a defender. But my game is about going forward.”
However, now Doherty is back in the Midlands, Pereira has proven everybody, including the player himself, wrong.
Where the 33-year-old once felt he wasn’t capable of being a wall at the back, Pereira has shown him otherwise.
Not only is Doherty positioned more centrally under Pereira, but he spends a lot less time in the opposition’s half.
As a result of his redefined role, Doherty’s defensive stats have seen drastic improvements across the board — something even he didn’t think was possible just a couple of years ago.
Doing what Jose Mourinho couldn’t
Jamie Carragher believes Pereira has turned Wolves around since he replaced O’Neil at the end of last year, and you’ll struggle to find someone who doesn’t agree.
The 56-year-old has been a revelation since he swapped Al-Shabab for the Midlands just less than six months ago.
Pereira has got the side ticking with Doherty’s defensive resurgence, something Mourinho failed to unlock, just one of his many improvements.
Wolves are experiencing the benefits of Pereira’s man-management and tactical know-how, and it seems to be just a matter of time before Fosun realise the importance of keeping him and offers him a new, and improved, contract.