MARTI Cifuentes wants Queens Park Rangers to stay “humble” as they aim to take last season’s form into 2024-25 – as he praised the “incredible” Hoops supporters for being a key “weapon” in staying up.
QPR were 23rd in the table when Spaniard Cifuentes arrived at Loftus Road to take over from Gareth Ainsworth after five years coaching in Norway, Denmark and Sweden.
Cifuentes immediately improved a previously demoralised side and they won three games in a row in December, before a dip in from over Christmas and the New Year.
But a 2-0 win over London rivals Millwall sparked a run that saw them lose just four times in nineteen games as they not only secured their Championship status but did it as one of the form sides in the division.
“It was the connection that we built with the fans,” Cifuentes said in an interview with Sky Sports about their performances at home. “When we were playing away, at Leicester we had thousands supporting us. Plymouth on a Wednesday night, it was incredible. We created that feel-good factor with the supporters. It was a weapon.”
From being a side that had one of the lowest possession statistics in the division to one that is comfortable on the ball, QPR will have their style of play set from the start of next season under Cifuentes.
“I always felt that when we grew up playing football, we wanted to have the ball at our feet not to be going around chasing it,” Cifuentes said. “That principle of being proactive should never change.”
“We wanted to create that spark, to get the player thinking about why they wanted to play football. We tried to trigger this from the first session. I wanted to see players laughing and enjoying themselves, while working hard. I think we achieved that.
“It was a fresh start for everyone. I wanted to make sure we had an identity as a team that was connected to the club. I knew that QPR had this history with a lot of technical players, attacking football. That was very aligned with my way of thinking.
“We wanted the players to forget a little bit about where in the table we were. To give them a new way of thinking because they were the ones who were suffering from being in a relegation battle for a long time. That can be draining from a mental point of view.
“Players such as Ilias Chair and Chris Willock were more suited to playing in a team that tries to attack, that tries to have the ball on the ground.
“Players such as Jake Clarke-Salter, Jack Colback and Sam Field could develop into that kind of football. One of the things that made me most proud is that we could see the progress as we developed into a team that we could recognise more and more.”
Cifuentes added: ”We need to be very humble. There are a lot of good managers out there, a lot of clubs with more money than us. I think it would be naïve for us to expect that just because we have a good trend, it is going to work.
“We will lose games. That is football. But I always want the supporters to go home proud of what we were trying to do.
The togetherness with the fans has been something incredible. Hopefully, we can keep enjoying it.”
