Harry Maguire says Manchester United’s players must accept responsibility for their poor start to the season and take the pressure off Erik ten Hag.
Erik ten Hag is facing increasing pressure at Manchester United following a disappointing start to the season. The club has managed just three wins from their first nine games across all competitions, and their recent form has been particularly concerning, with no victories in the last four matches. The 3-3 draw against Porto in the UEFA competition, where United squandered a 2-0 lead and required a 91st-minute equalizer from Harry Maguire to salvage a point, has further intensified speculation about Ten Hag’s future.
Given United’s historical expectations and the size of the club, a poor run of form often leads to questions about the manager’s position. If the team doesn’t turn things around soon, it’s likely that Ten Hag’s job could be at risk.
Ten Hag’s team also endured embarrassing consecutive 3-0 home defeats in the Premier League to Liverpool and Tottenham, bringing him closer to losing his job. In this context, Ten Hag is aware that he cannot afford a loss against Aston Villa on Sunday if he wants to secure his position after the international break.
But Harry Maguire said United’s players cannot hide behind their manager and must find it within themselves to dig their way out of trouble – starting at Villa. “Obviously it’s not good enough,” said Maguire. “For sure, we’ve got to do more. As a footballer, it’s easy to look around and blame other people and blame your team-mates or blame the staff or the tactics.
“But you’ve got to look at yourself. We’re the ones that go on the pitch. We’re the ones that have to defend. You’ve got to take responsibility and each and every one of us has got to do better in these moments.
“When we’re under pressure, I feel like as a team, over the last couple of years, I’d say last year or so, every time we’ve been under pressure in games, we’ve ended up conceding and that can’t happen. We’ve got to be able to withstand that pressure, have better principles within ourselves and up the tempo a lot better when we’re defending our box.
“I know when you go through difficult moments and everything, everyone piles on you. In difficult times, you’ve got to come through and you’ve got to stick together within the group. The 11 bodies go out there and play football, you’ve got to stick together within the team, within the squad and have that belief.
“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.
“When you play for this club or manage this club and you go through a difficult period of results, pressure comes on. Everyone speaks, everyone talks. The manager’s more than experienced enough. That’s what comes with the job. So, yes, we’re fighting together.”
United secured a 2-1 win at Villa Park last season, and Harry Maguire, who is expected to start on Sunday in place of Matthijs De Ligt, mentioned that the team will look to that victory for motivation.“We’ve for to find belief within ourselves and take the belief from what we did last season at Villa Park,” said Harry Maguire.
“It was on fire last season there. Then we went there and got the victory that we needed last season. We feel like we’re playing better than we were last season, just the results haven’t been there.
“Obviously, the performance was really poor against Spurs. Apart from that, I feel like we should have more points on the board. But they’re not there, so we need to do something about it, starting with Sunday. It’s a tough game, but what a great place to go and play and try and get three points.”