Togetherness, the stomach for a fight and the footballing 'basics' are the tenants behind Sam Allardyce's instructions that are being lapped by the Leeds United dressing room.
The former England boss was unable to pull off a shock at the Etihad on Saturday afternoon as his side were seen off by Pep Guardiola's treble-chasing Manchester City, but a 2-1 defeat in which the Whites caused a late scare when Rodrigo netted seconds after a missed Ilkay Gundogan penalty marked a significant improvement on some of the club's recent scorelines.
The clock is ticking, with just three games remaining for Leeds, but defender Max Wober insists Allardyce's methods are 'exactly' what the club needs right now.
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"He was pretty clear what he wants from us," the Austrian defender told LUTV following the defeat. "He wants us to fight, he wants us to stay together. He wants to defend together, attack together and just keep it to the basics and I think this is exactly what we need right now. Just focus on the basics, do these things good and then the football things, like playing football and creating chances will come, but first we have to do the basics right."
The narrow scoreline across the Pennies did perhaps not reflect the nature of City's dominance for long spells, but Wober credits an improved performance after the break in which his side were able to carry out their instructions more effectively as the reason why the City floodgates did not open.
"We had a really tough first half, we were just defending," he added. "We were not strong enough on first and second balls which was our game plan - to be annoying there, get counter attacks, win the first ball, win the second ball. But they just played all around us and it was difficult and they scored two, but in the second half we did a better job. Got our chances, got close, made it 2-1, but unfortunately couldn't create any more chances for a draw, but I think we showed really good togetherness again and showed also to the fans that we are still alive and still working for this club."
Next up for Leeds United is Allardyce's first Elland Road match as Whites boss in which he be up against his former side Newcastle United, while the club face a nervous wait for the rest of the weekend's results in order to see if they kick-off that match in the relegation zone or not.
