‘We Need To Do Better’ – Cifuentes Ahead Of West Brom Clash

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‘We Need To Do Better’ – Cifuentes Ahead Of West Brom Clash

Martí Cifuentes acknowledged that improvements are required across the pitch in our upcoming meeting with West Bromwich Albion.

2026-01-05T09:00+00:00

by Sam Jones

Published

05 Jan, 2026

‘We Need To Do Better’ – Cifuentes Ahead Of West Brom Clash

Martí Cifuentes acknowledged that improvements are required across the pitch in our upcoming meeting with West Bromwich Albion.

Sam Jones

2026-01-05T09:00+00:00

‘We Need To Do Better’ – Cifuentes Ahead Of West Brom Clash

Martí Cifuentes acknowledged that improvements are required across the pitch in our upcoming meeting with West Bromwich Albion.

Sam Jones

2026-01-05T09:00+00:00

‘We Need To Do Better’ – Cifuentes Ahead Of West Brom Clash

Martí Cifuentes acknowledged that improvements are required across the pitch in our upcoming meeting with West Bromwich Albion.

Sam Jones

2026-01-05T09:00+00:00

‘We Need To Do Better’ – Cifuentes Ahead Of West Brom Clash

Martí Cifuentes acknowledged that improvements are required across the pitch in our upcoming meeting with West Bromwich Albion.

Sam Jones

2026-01-05T09:00+00:00

The Foxes head back to King Power Stadium following a New Year’s Day defeat at Sheffield United, in which the Blades claimed a 3-1 triumph at Bramall Lane to leave us 13th in the Sky Bet Championship following our festive fixture schedule.

Speaking in the wake of that reverse, and ahead of Monday evening’s clash with the Baggies (8pm GMT kick-off), Cifuentes outlined where the necessary improvements must take place.

‘Match the energy’

A disappointing day in south Yorkshire.

Japhet Tanganga, Tom Cannon and Callum O’Hare were all on target for Chris Wilder’s side last time out and Cifuentes believes the goals should have been defended better by his side, with more defensive solidity required.

“It was not a good performance,” the Spaniard admitted. “Congratulations to Sheffield United, because they were better in most areas of the game. We were not at the level. It is a reality check. You need to run and win your duels and we didn’t. Three individual mistakes for the three goals cost us.

“Sometimes you need to match the energy and the level of physicality. We knew Sheffield United would play exactly the way they did - [Callum] O’Hare coming into the pocket when attacking, two strikers trying to run a lot into the channels and stretch us.

“I think we prepared well on how to match this situation, but we lost all kind of duels all around the pitch and then when we recovered the ball, there were a lot of technical mistakes which make it very difficult to build any momentum in the game.

“That’s why the first 60 minutes were bad. You need to grind it out and compete. A mistake in the set piece, both in the marking and the way that we defend the six-yard box, allowed them to take the lead in a first half that was very poor from our side because we should have created much more and have much better sequences on the ball.

“The second and the third are individual mistakes as well that are costly for the development of the game and we need to correct them better as a team. There were good opportunities in both of them to correct them.”

‘We need to show up’

The only moment of cheer for the Foxes.

Lacking an effective attacking threat for most of the contest in south Yorkshire, top scorer Jordan James did bring some respectability to the scoreline with a stoppage-time strike, his eighth of the league season, though it was too late in the day to alter the direction of the result, with the home side already assured of the three points by that stage.

“It took a while until we had some good sequences in possession, so we need more personality,” the 43-year-old explained, citing the lacklustre performance at Sheffield United. “It was very poor. We need to show up when we are on the ball.

“When you score a goal in the 92nd minute when you are losing 3-0, there is not much to celebrate. We need to make sure that the players understand that we need to show a higher level of accountability.

“We go from a game where the energy was very good to today, which was a totally different kind of performance. We need to improve our consistency a lot. That comes from understanding that this league is relentless. You need to, all the time, compete at your best.

“The main thing in this league is that you need to be able to run, to win your duels and then we put the ball on the ground and play the way we want to play. If you don’t do the basics, then it’s very difficult. Sheffield United were much better than us in that department.”

‘Keep pushing’

Beating Derby last time out at home.

Moving forwards is the only option as we transition into another tough Championship test, at home to West Brom, in which the Manager believes the players must show their capabilities on and off the ball.

“I can understand the fans since day one,” he added. “They have every right to express their frustrations. This is the situation that we have and we need to make sure that we are together and try to improve every day.

“The players always try their best when they jump in the pitch, but you need to be ready to deliver again and again, 110 per cent. We keep training, keep pushing. We are also in a difficult situation in terms of we have some injuries.

“There is no hiding that it has been a constant for me as a coach, we need to do better. As a team, we always want to improve.”

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