Liam Keen analysis: Major change needed for Wolves turnaround

There is no hiding away from it, Wolves are only heading in one direction and right now that is a relegation battle.

It is only three Premier League games into the season and there is plenty of time to turn it around, but the direction of the squad is uncertain and the evidence in front of us from the opening fixtures shows a team that will be scrapping it out in 2025/26.

By the end of the transfer window on Monday evening, Wolves' squad will hopefully be big enough with enough cover, but the quality of it is a totally different debate.

"But we know we can and we will play better," Pereira added.

"The last game (against West Ham) gave me a different sign and gave me some input about the way we are improving.

"The spirit, the pressing, the mentality and tactical things.

"But today we were not the team that we can be."

The defence has been boosted in terms of numbers but is all over the place on the pitch.

The biggest culprit of them all is Emmanuel Agbadou, but he is not the only one.

The opening goal came after several minutes of Everton peppering the box with crosses and inevitably Wolves were caught out, as Jack Grealish headed back across goal for Beto to nod home. He ghosted behind Agbadou, while he was left free by Toti Gomes, for a completely avoidable goal from Wolves' perspective.

Santi Bueno's superb recovery tackle denied Beto making it 2-0 as he raced towards goal and moments later Wolves equalised with a moment of quality.

Marshall Munetsi's excellent cross was behind the Everton defence but too far away from Jordan Pickford and Hwang Hee-chan latched onto it and finished well.

That sparked the Molineux crowd into life and the Wolves players began to fly into tackles. Pereira and his assistant Luis Miguel geed them up from the dugout and the hosts were on top for a brief period of the game.

But it was short-lived and another moment of horrendous defending allowed another cross to come in and Iliman Ndiaye to be left free by Hugo Bueno to finish at the back post again.

Joao Gomes lost the ball in the build-up and Wolves were easily opened up by Grealish and co.

Pereira said: "I'm not an actor, I'm very honest with myself, my team, my supporters, with everyone - I was expecting a better game. 

"We started the game defending and this is something that we are working to change the mentality.

"We either give a strong start that we are there to compete and win the game, or we start to defend and the other team come to our midfield and start to create problems.

"For us, without the aggressiveness we need to play this kind of game, against a physical and technical team. They are stronger than last season, with more options and more quality.

"Looking at us, we had a bad start. At 1-0 we had a reaction and tried to be more aggressive, attacking the space, and we scored our goal in the way we need to play, a simple game.

"Playing to the sides, attacking the space and arriving fast in the box.

"When the game was balanced, we made a mistake, like we have done in previous matches. In this league it leads to a goal."

The game was essentially over when Agbadou made an extremely poor pass to relinquish possession and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall produced a stunning finish from a tight angle.

It just goes to show that any mistake at this level can - and often will - be punished. Agbadou's passing has been dreadful throughout pre-season and the start of the campaign and something needs to give.

Pereira added: "We started the second half with another mistake and they scored another goal. We didn't learn and made a bad pass in the middle.

"The conversation I had with my team was about tactical maturity.

"When the traffic is strong in the middle, we cannot go in the middle because it's high risk to lose the ball and concede a goal.

"After the subs we had another reaction but 3-3 was not possible. I liked the spirit that the players from the bench brought to the game."

The head coach is right, Fer Lopez and Rodrigo Gomes made a difference from the bench, with the latter getting a late consolation goal.

Sasa Kalajdzic also won some headers and was a nuisance.

But moving forward - without Jorgen Strand Larsen playing - this team is light on quality and weak.

The end of the transfer window will be crucial but most of the work is already done and Pereira desperately needs to get more of a tune out of his summer signings.