Lee Johnson was delighted with his Fleetwood players after they got their first win of the League One campaign, beating Leyton Orient 1-0.
The Cod Army had to withstand early pressure before Jack Marriott hit the game’s only goal 10 minutes into the second half.
And manager Johnson was happy that his team got to show their quality after weathering the early storm.
“First and foremost I’m delighted with the first win of the season, both for myself and, mainly, for the players and the staff,” said Johnson, who got his maiden win in charge.
“If I’m honest the first 20 minutes was really poor from us, I thought we were passive, we didn’t play with anywhere near the right enthusiasm, both to press and to make angles and space for our team-mates, we had to change our shape a little bit and we got a lot closer to Leyton Orient and from 30 minutes on we were the better side.
“We could have had a second but we stayed organised and the work we did on the training ground bore fruit and that’s nice to see.
“They had half-chances early on but we made them look like Barcelona by not applying pressure. We have to be a front-foot pressing team, that’s my style and that’s what I demand.
“Once we did that you can see the quality of individual players coming out, because there are good players in that dressing room. They are getting fitter and starting to show what they’re about.
“I’m delighted for Jack to get his first goal of the season and he’s going to be so important for us.”
O’s manager Richie Wellens was critical of his side’s failure to make their early pressure count.
Though they rallied late on in a bid to salvage a point, they returned home empty-handed, with second yellow cards shown to Fleetwood’s Carl Johnston and Orient’s Ethan Galbraith the final act of the afternoon.
“We’ve wasted three points today,” said Wellens.
“In the first half hour we were totally dominant, the atmosphere in here was really quiet, they’ve obviously been struggling and we had an opportunity to be ruthless and we should have been one or two up.
“Fair play to them, they stuck at it and turned the game around with about 10 minutes to go in the first half, and then we started the second half really poorly.
“They got the crowd involved, but I still think it’s a game we should have won. We had a couple of chances late on but with the amount of balls we’ve had in the box and with the amount of opportunities early on, the amount of situations we had in the first half we’ve got to score, and if you don’t then you run the risk of the opposition coming into it.
“Fair play to Fleetwood, they ran a little bit more, won second balls and won a few duels and that’s probably won them the game. We’ve got to take shots on, we turned too many shots down.
“We need to be more ruthless, attack quicker and make decisions quicker and if we do that we probably win the game today.”
Juve must grow as a team to overcome slump, says Allegri
Juventus will need to grow as a team if they are to get out of their current slump, Bianconeri head coach Massimiliano Allegri said after their draw against relegated Salernitana on Sunday.
Juve were on their way to a humiliating Serie A loss at home until Adrien Rabiot equalised in stoppage time for a 1-1 draw.
It was a fifth straight league draw for Allegri's side, which has seen them slip to fourth, seven points behind second-placed Milan and level on 67 points with Bologna in third.
"Anyone who has played football knows that even the great teams can experience a moment of difficulty when the games become tough. We will certainly have to grow," Allegri said.
Their Coppa Italia final against Atalanta on Wednesday presents an opportunity for redemption.
"The final against a team like Atalanta that has grown a lot will certainly be balanced," Allegri said. "It's a one-off game and we will have to try to make as few mistakes as possible."
When asked about his future at the Turin club, Allegri stressed that he was focused on finishing the season.
"Regarding my future, just be patient a little bit longer, in 10-15 days you'll know what will happen next year," he said.
Regarding the match, the 56-year-old said the performance was not satisfactory but at least they did not lose.
"We started reasonably well, then made a mistake in our decision-making. We became disjointed and we didn't hold our positions," he said.
"You can't lose a match like that, otherwise you risk never picking yourselves back up again."
Rooney slams Man Utd players' attitude after Arsenal defeat
Wayne Rooney slammed Manchester United's players after Erik ten Hag made reference to the Red Devils' questionable attitudes following Sunday's defeat to Arsenal.
Ten Hag's side were hammered 4-0 on Monday away to Crystal Palace and followed that up with a 1-0 defeat to Arsenal, leaving them eighth in the league table and three points adrift of the top six.
The United manager was quizzed on the difference between the two performances, suggesting the differing showings had been down to players' "attitude".
Rooney, speaking on Sky Sports, echoed Ten Hag's sentiments as he questioned the application of United's underwhelming performers.
"I've said this a few weeks ago, the players need to look at themselves," the United and England great said.
"When you've got your manager during an interview and he's talking about attitude and attitudes not being right, that is a massive insult.
"If I saw my manager saying that, there is no way I'd let that ride until the end of the season. I feel some players are just trying to get to the end of the season so I feel for him in that way.
"Ultimately, it's his job to make sure the players are right."
Ten Hag has failed to get a tune out of United, dropping out of the Champions League in the group stage and suffering in the Premier League, with their only hope the upcoming FA Cup final with Manchester City.
The Red Devils have lost 19 games in all competitions this season, their most since 1977-78 (also 19), while their nine defeats at Old Trafford this term is their joint-most at home in a single campaign.
United have also conceded in 10 successive games in all competitions for the first time since October 2021, while the 82 goals they have conceded this season is their most since 1970-71 (also 82).
Ten Hag has had to deal with injuries to the likes of Lisandro Martinez, Harry Maguire and Marcus Rashford among others, with Rooney doubling down on his criticism of United's players.
"As we look at the injuries, some of them players can play," the former Everton and Derby County boss continued, with Bruno Fernandes also absent for the Arsenal clash.
"It's easy, you've got a European Championship coming up, an FA Cup final coming up. It's easy for the players, because they're getting a bit of stick now, to stay out for a little bit and come back for the FA Cup final and get ready for the European Championships.
"I've seen it myself over the years, I just think the players who are injured are not filling themselves with any credit at the minute and the manager is going to take all the stick for that."
Bochum 0-5 Bayer Leverkusen: Champions crush 10-man hosts to hit 50 games unbeaten
Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen crushed hosts Bochum 5-0 on Sunday to stretch their remarkable unbeaten run across all competitions this season to 50 consecutive matches.
Xabi Alonso's team, aiming for a treble of titles, surpassed Benfica's long-standing European unbeaten record with a 2-2 draw against Roma on Thursday that sent them through to the Europa League final.
On Saturday, they did not ease off against lowly Bochum, scoring twice late in the first half versus the last Bundesliga team to beat them in the previous season.
Patrik Schick put Leverkusen in the driving seat in the 41st minute and Victor Boniface doubled their lead with a penalty in first-half added time, with Bochum down to 10 men following a straight red card early on for Felix Passlack.
Amine Adli made it 3-0 in the 76th minute and Josip Stanisic added another 10 minutes later with a low drive before delivering an assist for Alejandro Grimaldo to score in stoppage time with a tap-in.
Leverkusen, who face Atalanta in the Europa League showpiece match and Kaiserslautern in the DFB-Pokal final, have 87 points with one Bundesliga game left this season.
Bayern Munich, 2-0 winners against Wolfsburg earlier on Sunday, are 15 points behind in second place.
Data Debrief: Leverkusen match Bayern's record
Leverkusen became the third team in Bundesliga history to remain undefeated in all of their away games in a season, joining Bayern as the only side to achieve the feat (in the 1986-87 and 2012-13 seasons).
Alonso's side have also scored 87 goals in the Bundesliga this season, extending on their already broken club record this term.
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