LEADER OF THE PACK
Suarez lessons taught Coady
LEADING Wolves out in the Premier League doesn’t faze Conor Coady – because of the schooling he got from Luis Suarez years ago.
The defender has been handed the armband by Nuno Espirito Santo and has thrived in the role at the heart of the Black Country club’s defence.
It has been a road full of twists and turns for Coady, 25, who as a young Liverpool wannabe was given the runaround every time he faced great Uruguay striker Suarez in training.
The Wolves star said: “I don’t know about toughen me up – back then Luis used to frighten me.
“I’ll be honest with you, he used to twist me inside out all the time in training.
“But it was a brilliant experience. I was only a kid trying to learn and improve – and he was a sensational player.
“For me it was never the happiest time coming in afterwards because he showed me up a few times. I’ve not come up against anyone better.
“But I’ve stuck at it. It’s in your character about sticking in there. You can’t throw in the towel – even if you are faced with brilliance.
“Sergio Aguero is another one. I’ve played against him a couple of times in recent years.
“He’s clever. He always starts behind you – he’s always offside. It’s tough to find him because he’s never in your eyeline.
“You look one way and he will go in the other direction so you’re thinking to yourself, ‘Where is he?’.
“But you’ve got to take it in your stride as much as possible. You have to think, ‘Okay, if you’re doing that, how can I stop you?’. That’s the important bit.”
Coady has been as good as his word, persisting at progressing his career.
He made a decision, given what was in front of him on Merseyside, to leave on loan – first for Sheffield United and then for today’s opponents Huddersfield.
The Haydock-born defender moved from the Terriers to chance his arm at Wolves and has played a key part in the revival as a core of domestic players have been blended superbly with a collection of imports.
The leader of the Wolves pack said: “It’s probably the best dressing room
I’ve been in. We do have a lot of foreign lads.
They aren’t just good players they are also fantastic people.
“There’s loads of stuff going on here
– head tennis, table tennis, cricket – they join in with the cricket but they aren’t great.
Ruben Neves is the best.
“But they are very good at head tennis.
Neves and Moutinho are at a different level to the rest.
“The other day, Ryan Bennett belted a cricket ball and Niall Ennis, one of our Under-23s, was on a bike. He turned his head and it has clopped him in the face – he was okay.”
Wolves go into today’s fixture as the favourites having already taken a point from Man United, Man City and at Arsenal.
The club has adjusted to life back among the elite after an early-season word from Nuno.
Coady said: “After the first game of the season we had a squad meeting.
“You could see we were nervous. Don’t get me wrong, you always get butterflies but it was a little bit more than that.
“Everybody was over-thinking their jobs. The manager spoke after the game and said, ‘What are you like? Relax’.
“Since then, nothing has changed. There’s not been one game where we’ve thought, ‘We’re not going to win today’.”
Wolves v Huddersfield, Today, 4pm, Sky Sports Main Event