Hwang Hee-chan says Julen Lopetegui has inspired confidence in Wolves squad

Korean midfielder Hwang Hee-chan says new manager Julen Lopetegui has inspired confidence in the Wolverhampton Wanderers squad, crediting the new Spanish gaffer for the team’s improvement in recent games.

Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Julen Lopetegui talks to Hwang Hee-Chan and Matheus Nunes during a Carabao Cup game against Gillingham at Molineux Stadium in Wolverhampton, England on Dec. 20. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Korean midfielder Hwang Hee-chan says new manager Julen Lopetegui has inspired confidence in the Wolverhampton Wanderers squad, crediting the new Spanish gaffer for the team’s improvement in recent games.

Wolves ended 2022 with a 1-0 loss to Manchester United, but the two previous matches were wins and saw the midlands club advance to the final eight in the Carabao Cup and rise out of last place in the Premier League.

Those two wins, against Gillingham and Everton, were Lopetegui’s first two games at the helm of the club.

“He is a very intelligent manager,” Hwang said after the game against Manchester United on Saturday. “Everyone knows him from his time at Real Madrid and with Spain. I can learn a lot from him. He explains things in great detail. Today’s result was not good and not what we wanted but we played well in the first-half.

“However, we can do better. What’s important now is we keep fighting.”

A good atmosphere in the clubhouse and on the pitch couldn’t come at a more important time for Hwang, who has failed to score for Wolves since February last year, a dry spell that is now nearly 11 months.

Hwang has appeared in all three Wolves games since Lopetegui took the helm, playing the full 90 minutes against Manchester United for the first time this season. While he still has not broken that long scoreless run, Hwang has been noticeably more active and was directly involved in both goals against Gillingham in the Cup.

The return to the starting XI proved to be a big confidence booster for Hwang.

“The way he talks to us inspires confidence and we trust him when he says we can play an even higher level,” Hwang said.

‘It’s been good for me. When I met him, within two or three days I knew exactly what I had to do because he explained everything to me in great detail. That has given me a lot of confidence and now I want to fight for my team but I also want to fight for him.”

Despite his return to a more regular role in the squad, Hwang and the rest of the Wolves attacking lineup will have an increasingly competitive fight on their hands to keep their spot in the starting XI.

Wolves brought in Brazilian footballer Matheus Cunha on loan from Atletico Madrid last week. Cunha joins an already competitive lineup with seven forwards already vying for a spot on the pitch: Hwang, Raul Jiminez, Pedro Neto, Daniel Podence, Goncalo Guedes, Sasa Kalajdzic, Chiquinho, Diego Costa, Adama Traore and Chem Campbell.

“I think the goals are coming after the good work,” Lopetugui said after the game on Saturday. “We have done good work focusing on the opposite goal, working as a team in a lot of moments of the game, so we did well to try to overcome a big team like Man United.

“You cannot get too down when you lose. I said after Everton that just because we had won, we were not in heaven and because we lost today, we are not in hell. We are balanced in thinking for the next match, knowing that the only way to improve is to work a lot, have belief and improve.”

Wolves and Hwang don’t have long to rest before their next game, as they take on Aston Villa on the road at Villa Park on Wednesday.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]