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Wolverhampton Wanderers news: Why did Julen Lopetegui take charge of Wolves at end of last year?

With three games left to play in the season, Wolves have already secured their Premier League status for another year.

By Karthik Raman | May 12, 2023 | 3 Min Read

The rise of Wolverhampton Wanderers in the current Premier League season is one of the most captivating stories to remember for a long time. Approaching Christmas at the end of last year, Wolves were at the bottom of the table, with some supporters and pundits already starting to give up on them. In came Julen Lopetegui and he transformed the club quickly in no time. They started to produce several noteworthy performances as the dream of staying in the division became more possible than ever.

With three games left to play in the season, Wolves have already secured their Premier League status for another year. It is an incredible achievement for a club that was so far down in the table when Julen Lopetegui had arrived. Ahead of a Premier League trip to Manchester United, Lopetegui was asked about his decision to take the job. “It was a challenge for me as a coach,” he was quoted as saying by the club’s website.

“I like the hard challenge, that’s why I’m a coach. Our life is not easy in a lot of moments. For me to come to one other country, one other league, the best league in the world and in a dangerous situation was a challenge. I wanted a challenge and for me it’s a lesson to be able to change anything about myself, to be able to help this kind of team to be out of relegation.”

A lot of people called me crazy: Julen Lopetegui

Julen Lopetegui then spoke about the difficult task that was awaiting him when he joined Wolves. Despite the challenging situation at hand, Lopetegui always believed in helping Wolves maintain their Premier League status. “It was a very difficult situation for a lot of reasons. We were bottom with ten points, four points from the next team. It was difficult, but fortunately in the end the players we have worked very hard. To have this achievement three matches before the end of the season I think is a very big success for the club, for the players, for the fans and for us,” he elaborated.

“The most important thing is if you believe or not. I believed we were able to change the situation, knowing that it’s a big risk. A lot of people called me crazy, that I didn’t need to go to the bottom of the Premier League, but in the moment my feeling was that I believed. It was a challenge for me and my staff. We came here believing, trying to do our best and to tell the players that we were able to change our aim. Fortunately, we got there and of course we’re happy.”

‘Aim is to do the same in the next three matches’

With the Premier League relegation battle done and dusted, Julen Lopetegui spoke about what their targets are for the final three fixtures of this season. “Aim is to do the same in the next three matches. We have ambition and we are going to try to see more players and all of them have to be ready. After, of course, we are going to put our best. We are playing against teams fighting for different aims, for the Champions League, the Premier League or relegation,” he added.

“We have to be honest, be professional, of course. We are going to play at Old Trafford, it’s the most important reason to be ready to go there with our best Sunday clothes. It’s better to have this situation. We didn’t want to go to the last match without knowing our future. It’s going to be important and we are going to try to take advantage of this situation.”