QPR boss Marti Cifuentes insists he is “very confident” he will lead the club away from trouble in the Championship despite their winless run continuing with a goalless draw against Bristol City at Loftus Road.
City defended well in their first match under Liam Manning following his recent arrival from Oxford as successor to Nigel Pearson.
Cifuentes can take some encouragement from his team’s display in his first home game at the helm.
But the west London side have now gone 11 matches without a win, continue to struggle to create clear-cut chances and remain one off the bottom of the table, having won only once at home in more than a year.
Cifuentes has employed a radically different style of play to the route-one tactics of his predecessor Gareth Ainsworth, who presided over six consecutive defeats prior to his recent sacking.
QPR have returned to a passing style and Cifuentes is convinced that will pay off.
Cifuentes said: “There are mixed feelings. Unfortunately we couldn’t deliver the victory. It was not the result we wanted but I am looking forward to building the togetherness I saw today. I think we can be really strong in the future.
“Despite the result, my job is to make sure that we start to win games. I do think it’s a step in the right direction.
“I see a stable team and one that is striving to have a clear identity – how they want to play from the back and have the courage to pass the ball.
“The identity of the team is starting to show. I feel we are taking steps but we have to be critical and say it hasn’t been enough to win games.
“Over time I’m very confident that this style of play can give us the results we’re looking for,” said the Spaniard.
“I do think that we have the tools inside the squad to play the football we want to and I’m very confident that this will give us the results we want.”
Meanwhile, Manning also saw reasons to feel optimistic after seeing the Robins make a solid start to his reign.
“There was some really positive stuff,” Manning said.
“We’ve worked on our shape out of possession and we saw that come out. There were a lot of positives with the out-of-possession stuff.
“We didn’t concede a shot on target, so when you look from the defensive side of it there were a lot of good things.
“In possession, we know that can improve. But we finished the stronger side in the last 20 minutes and got in some terrific areas.
“It’s been a whirlwind week but I have to give the players a huge amount of credit for how they’ve adapted to the work we’ve asked them to do.
“A pleasing aspect is the clean sheet and also the behaviours you saw – there were people there who maxed out and were running on empty at the end.
“If we want to be the best team that we can be, then that’s going to be important.”
Kerr signs new two-year contract with Chelsea
Chelsea striker Sam Kerr has signed a new two-year deal until 2026, the club announced on Thursday.
Kerr, whose contract was due to expire at the end of the Women's Super League season, has scored 99 goals in 128 matches since joining from Chicago Red Stars in 2019.
The 30-year-old has played a huge role in the success of Emma Hayes' side in recent years, winning five consecutive league titles along with three FA Cups, two League Cups and the Community Shield.
During the 2022-23 campaign, Kerr scored 29 goals in 38 appearances in all competitions, making her 100th appearance for the Blues in the process.
The striker has not played since January because of an anterior cruciate ligament injury and has been ruled out of the Australia squad for this summer's Olympics in Paris.
"It’s really exciting and a very proud moment for me," Kerr said after putting pen to paper on her new deal. "Having the opportunity to stay at a club like Chelsea means a lot to me. I’m really excited to continue to push and to try to win trophies."
Since arriving in England, Kerr has claimed the Golden Boot twice and was runner-up to Spain's Aitana Bonmati at the Ballon d'Or awards last year.
Kerr would also become the first player to be awarded the Football Writers’ Association Women’s Footballer of the Year prize twice in a row.
USA are ready for Copa America following Brazil draw, says Berhalter
Gregg Berhalter has said that the United States are ready for the Copa America following their 1-1 draw with Brazil on Wednesday.
Berhalter's side concluded their preparations for the tournament with an improved display in Florida, having lost 5-1 to Colombia three days prior.
Many feared the worst as Real Madrid's Rodrygo gave the visitors an early advantage, but Christian Pulisic's second half free-kick was enough to share the spoils, as Matt Turner made 11 saves in the contest, the most by a USA keeper since Tim Howard in the 2014 World Cup.
"We asked for teamwork and intensity," Berhalter said. "The way we framed it is two things that are totally in their control. It doesn't matter about the opponent, it doesn't matter about the field, the fans or anything.
"That's the type of effort that we saw today. The boys certainly did really well on that and that was good. We feel like we made a little step."
The USA kickstart their Copa America campaign on June 23 against Bolivia in Arlington, before taking on Panama and Uruguay in Group C.
Berhalter believes the result against the five-time World Cup winners is a little step on the way to being successful against the better teams on the international stage.
"It's not a huge step, but it's a little step to be able to play against an amazingly talented Brazil team and bend but not break," Berhalter added.
"And give them problems as well, push them as well. So for us, looking at it, we think it's a good end to a preparation camp when we're ready for Copa."
United States 1-1 Brazil: Pulisic free-kick caps Copa America warm-up
The United States capped their Copa America preparations with a 1-1 draw against Brazil on Wednesday, with Christian Pulisic scoring a fine free-kick.
USA captain Pulisic drilled a low effort beyond Alisson 26 minutes in, after a mazy run ended with him being chopped down by Wolves midfielder Joao Gomes on the edge of the area.
A full-strength Brazil side had gone ahead nine minutes earlier when the lively Raphinha split the hosts' defence with a fine pass for Rodrygo, who beat Matt Turner at his near post.
Rodrygo went close with an acrobatic effort shortly after half-time, but neither side was able to find a second-half winner, primarily due to the performances of Alisson and Turner.
The Liverpool goalkeeper made a great stop to deny Pulisic shortly after the hour mark, and Turner responded by tipping Rodrygo's outside-of-the-boot effort to safety.
Vinicius Junior fired across goal and off-target deep into stoppage time as the Selecao were made to settle for a draw 12 days out from their Copa opener against Costa Rica. The USA open their campaign against Bolivia in Texas on June 22.
Data Debrief: Captain America strikes again
If the USA are to enjoy a successful Copa campaign on home soil, they will need Pulisic to be right at it after an encouraging first season with Milan.
He is developing a taste for scoring against CONMEBOL opponents, having now netted versus Bolivia, Brazil, Chile and Venezuela.
He is just the third American man to achieve that feat, after Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan.
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