Manchester United defender Harry Maguire says it is easy for the club’s players to “blame the staff and tactics” but they have “got to do better” as manager Erik ten Hag comes under increasing pressure.
The Old Trafford side are 14th in the Premier League after two wins, three defeats and one draw in their six top-flight games this season.
They face Aston Villa away on Sunday (14:00 BST) with club co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe saying a decision over Ten Hag’s future is “not my call”.
“This is my sixth season now and I know what it’s about,” said England centre-back Maguire.
“I know that you go through difficult moments and everything, everyone piles on you.
“We’ve proven over the last couple of seasons with the manager that we can beat anybody when we perform. But the problem has been consistency, and we need to start showing that.”
United go into the game at Villa Park on the back of a 3-0 home league defeat against Tottenham and a 3-3 draw with Porto in the Europa League on Thursday, in which Maguire scored a late equaliser.
They have now conceded three or more goals in 24 matches under Ten Hag.
“No, obviously it’s not good enough. For sure, we’ve got to do more,” added Maguire, 31.
“But as a footballer, it’s easy to look around and blame your team-mates, or blame the staff or the tactics. You’ve got to look at yourself.
“You’ve got to take responsibility and each and every one of us has got to do better in these moments.”
Hopeful_Adonis on
Fair play to Harry, a proper leaders response.
Our inability to constantly close gaps, shrink the field for our opposition and shift the balance of 50/50’s to our favour can of course be tactical, but watching alot of the highlights back, a bit more effort wouldn’t have went amiss either
JaysonDeflatum on
Should be starting.
Downtown-Discount671 on
He’s not wrong both players & manager have alot of blame to take
Players for not working hard enough defensively & the manager for not changing his tactics/adapting faster
reddevils on
The amount of respect I gained for that man is immense. And honestly he’s become one of those players that offers way more than his presence on the pitch. If anything, it’s an example to these entitled players who think they have the right to start no matter what. Good on you Harry.
DasHotShot on
I’ve just given up trying to understand why we struggle as much as we do
OmegaMaster8 on
This United team, manager and the board have let the fans down time and time again. Last season was a shit show. This season feels the same as last season.
7 Comments
From the article:
Manchester United defender Harry Maguire says it is easy for the club’s players to “blame the staff and tactics” but they have “got to do better” as manager Erik ten Hag comes under increasing pressure.
The Old Trafford side are 14th in the Premier League after two wins, three defeats and one draw in their six top-flight games this season.
They face Aston Villa away on Sunday (14:00 BST) with club co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe saying a decision over Ten Hag’s future is “not my call”.
“This is my sixth season now and I know what it’s about,” said England centre-back Maguire.
“I know that you go through difficult moments and everything, everyone piles on you.
“We’ve proven over the last couple of seasons with the manager that we can beat anybody when we perform. But the problem has been consistency, and we need to start showing that.”
United go into the game at Villa Park on the back of a 3-0 home league defeat against Tottenham and a 3-3 draw with Porto in the Europa League on Thursday, in which Maguire scored a late equaliser.
They have now conceded three or more goals in 24 matches under Ten Hag.
“No, obviously it’s not good enough. For sure, we’ve got to do more,” added Maguire, 31.
“But as a footballer, it’s easy to look around and blame your team-mates, or blame the staff or the tactics. You’ve got to look at yourself.
“You’ve got to take responsibility and each and every one of us has got to do better in these moments.”
Fair play to Harry, a proper leaders response.
Our inability to constantly close gaps, shrink the field for our opposition and shift the balance of 50/50’s to our favour can of course be tactical, but watching alot of the highlights back, a bit more effort wouldn’t have went amiss either
Should be starting.
He’s not wrong both players & manager have alot of blame to take
Players for not working hard enough defensively & the manager for not changing his tactics/adapting faster
The amount of respect I gained for that man is immense. And honestly he’s become one of those players that offers way more than his presence on the pitch. If anything, it’s an example to these entitled players who think they have the right to start no matter what. Good on you Harry.
I’ve just given up trying to understand why we struggle as much as we do
This United team, manager and the board have let the fans down time and time again. Last season was a shit show. This season feels the same as last season.