Cambridge manager Mark Bonner singled out the “outstanding” performance of Gassan Ahadme following their 2-0 victory over Fleetwood.
The U’s, who only avoided the drop on the final day last season, made it two wins from two with goals from new signing Ahadme and stalwart Paul Digby the difference.
“Gassan Ahadme has started brilliantly, two in two and his performances have been outstanding,” Bonner said.
“He’s showing people exactly why we wanted him here for a few years. Our test for him is to see how consistent he can be at that level.
“It will be a tough ask but he really does set the tempo for us.
“It was a brilliant performance from Paul Digby, he deserved the goal. He made really hard runs to catch up with attacks and to come back and defend.”
Despite the professional performance, The U’s boss is still not getting ahead of himself and continues to demand more from his players.
“We were a threat all afternoon, defended well when we had to and thought we might have actually done better in terms of our goal return.
“To go in ahead was great but we were probably a bit frustrated we didn’t go in further ahead.
“We defended well in the second half. We’ve been working on set plays a lot and they’re going to be big for us this year as long as we capitalise on them.
“We did and it put us in a good position with a half hour left to be in control of the game to some extent. So we put ourselves in a really strong position.”
On the other hand hosts Fleetwood rarely looked threatening, and manager Scott Brown admitted they needed to go back to what they do best in order to keep clean sheets.
Brown said: “Disappointed obviously with the result. I take full responsibility for that one, what we’ve worked on in pre-season didn’t come off so we need to get back to doing what we do best.
“It’s being that horrible team doing what we do best and keeping clean sheets, making us hard to play through.
“We were maybe a little bit open today and the game plan probably wasn’t followed through as well as we possibly could do.
“I think the first 13, 14 minutes we controlled the game well and then we started to mix and match.
“Listen as I say, I’ve got to take this one on the head. The lads have given us a lot in pre-season but now we need to bounce back and they’ll be a lot of changes that’s for sure.
“We need to make sure we win games, we win our battles, we win individual battles, we’re first to the ball and today we weren’t that.”
Giroud leaving Milan to join MLS at end of season
Olivier Giroud announced he will be leaving Milan to join the MLS at the end of the season when his contract expires.
The Frenchman joined the club in July 2021 from Chelsea, winning the Serie A title in his first season.
Giroud has scored 48 goals in 130 games in all competitions for Milan, netting 16 of those this season to help them to a second-place finish.
In an emotional interview with the club’s media channels, Giroud said: "I'm here to tell you that the next two games will be my last for Milan. My career will continue in MLS.
"I'm very proud of everything I've done here at Milan across three seasons. It's the right time to announce it. I'm a bit emotional. My story with Milan ends this season, but Milan will forever remain in my heart."
Though Giroud did not confirm which team he would be joining in the MLS, previous reports suggested he could be moving to LAFC to link up with his France international team-mate, Hugo Lloris.
Giroud leaving Milan at end of season to join MLS
Olivier Giroud announced he will be leaving Milan to join the MLS at the end of the season when his contract expires.
The Frenchman joined the club in July 2021 from Chelsea, winning the Serie A title in his first season.
Giroud has scored 48 goals in 130 games in all competitions for Milan, netting 16 of those this season to help them to a second-place finish.
In an emotional interview with the club’s media channels, Giroud said: "I'm here to tell you that the next two games will be my last for Milan. My career will continue in MLS.
"I'm very proud of everything I've done here at Milan across three seasons. It's the right time to announce it. I'm a bit emotional. My story with Milan ends this season, but Milan will forever remain in my heart."
Though Giroud did not confirm which team he would be joining in the MLS, previous reports suggested he could be moving to LAFC to link up with his France international team-mate, Hugo Lloris.
Beckham: Man Utd's problems have lasted 'too long'
David Beckham believes Manchester United’s issues have lasted "too long" since Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013.
The Red Devils have won just four major trophies since Ferguson’s departure, with their most recent – an EFL Cup win last season – ending a six-year wait for silverware.
United have not won a Premier League title since the Scot’s final season in charge, with six managers failing to reclaim the top-flight crown since then.
This season, Erik ten Hag’s side are at risk of recording their lowest league finish and points tally, as they sit eighth on 54 points with two games remaining.
Beckham, who won 13 trophies, including six Premier League titles and the Champions League, told The Athletic: "I think it has been a difficult time over the last five or ten years, but it was always going to be when the boss left the club.
"It wasn’t just that, we lost players like Ryan Giggs, Roy Keane and Gary Neville, all of these players that had been at United for so long; you lose part of that, and you lose part of the club.
"So it was always going to be a difficult time. But we’d like it to change pretty quickly because I think it’s gone on for too long now."
United have lost 19 games in all competitions this season, their most since 1977-78 (also 19), with nine of those coming at Old Trafford – their joint-most at home in a season and the first time it has happened in the Premier League.
Their 1-0 defeat to Arsenal on Sunday marked the first time they had conceded in 10 successive games in all competitions since October 2021, while the 82 goals they have let in this season is their most since 1970-71 (also 82).
Beckham was speaking at the premiere of 99, the Amazon Prime documentary covering United’s iconic treble-winning season 25 years ago.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
