West Brom midfielder Matheus Pereira is featured in a big interview from Portuguese newspaper A Bola on Wednesday.
In the first part of the chat, the Brazilian has spoken about his move to the Championship side, and all the changes he’s felt since joining the club on a loan deal at the start of the season.
Pereira currently has six goals and 16 assists in 34 appearances for the Baggies, who are on top of the Championship table. That’s why he was first asked if the season has been perfect so far.
“It is, in fact, being spectacular. It’s an experience unlike anything. Different football, different culture, but it was a challenge that, from the first moment, I faced with a lot of belief and positive sense. Thank goodness, it’s been fantastic,” Matheus Pereira told A Bola.
Quizzed about the difference between the Portuguese first division and the Championship, Pereira claims there’s a lot more competition in England’s second tier.
“They are very different leagues. In Portugal there are three or four teams, at most five, that fight for the top places. Not here, forget it… even though it’s the second tier, all the teams struggle to win, the Championship is in fact very competitive. The stadiums are always full, wherever the team goes there’s a passion for the game, for football. The fields are all good, all top notch. The difference is really big.”
Still, he says he’s not surprised with such a difference: “It turned out not to be that big of a surprise, because last season I was in Germany, which also has such environments, it’s not the same but similar. Here the surprise was more with the game. I expected more direct football, being a second division, but the teams that still play like that are an exception. Football is positive, competitive. I’m really loving it.”
Pereira was also asked about the pressure at West Brom, since the main goal is to finish on top of the table, just like Sporting in Portugal.
“Pressure is always on, in all places, in all clubs, because there are always collective goals on the table, for which we have to give everything. Obviously the pressure here is different, it’s a positive pressure, and it’s not easy to deal with. But luckily we are doing very well in the Championship, we are on the top places and I think that if we continue to play this way, we will achieve the Premier League promotion.
“It’s something fantastic. What all players want is to be in a club that fights for goals like that. It’s a very big challenge, and so far, it’s going perfectly. I really believe that, in the end, we will be happy, we have been working to deserve it.”
