Thursday 26 December 2024 20:55
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Harry Maguire cut a defiant figure after Manchester United’s disappointing result at Wolves – the Reds’ third successive defeat in all competitions.
The England international spoke eloquently of his firm belief in new head coach Ruben Amorim’s methods, and also expressed support for his colleague Bruno Fernandes. United’s skipper was sent off early in the second half at Molineux – a moment which Maguire admitted defined the match against Wolves.
But our no.5 said the players had to face the challenges in front of them with bravery and togetherness, and reiterated his faith that our poor run would soon come to an end.
“I think the red card’s changed the game,” Harry told Prime Video Sport, who broadcasted the match in the United Kingdom. “It felt like we had control in the first half, without doing too much with it. They hit us with a few counter-attacks, and had a couple of dangerous players in wide areas. But we spoke about it at half-time and I felt like, going into the second half, we needed to up it a little bit and, yeah, the red card’s changed the game.
“It’s hard enough playing with 11 men in the Premier League, but when you go down to 10 it’s tough. If we’re being honest, we gave them nothing. They had nothing; they created nothing when it was 11 v 10. Obviously, [them] scoring from a corner and with the last kick of the game is tough to take. But we’ve got to stick together and look forward to the next one.”
Asked about his colleague Fernandes, who was dismissed within seconds of the restart after half-time, Maguire said the Portuguese would be back stronger for the experience.
“I haven’t spoke to him,” said Maguire. “He’s obviously a big player for us and he’ll be disappointed. He’ll get his head down and he’ll be ready to go when he’s back from suspension now.
“He’s a big player for us – he’ll be disappointed, it’ll hurt him, and he’ll feel like he’s let the lads down. But we’re in this together. We move on to the next one and I’m sure he’ll chip in with many contributions from now until the end of the season.”
Wolves’ first goal at Molineux was an eerie, uncomfortably repeat of a goal United conceded at Tottenham Hotspur recently, when Altay Bayindir was beaten by a direct corner taken by Son Heung-min.
This time, Matheus Cunha outwitted Andre Onana with a similar effort, and Maguire said that the Reds had to work harder to eradicate our current set-piece woes – even if the majority of corners and free-kicks are being defended reasonably.
“When it keeps happening, you can’t really put it down to luck, but it’s tough to take that teams have scored twice from a corner. I think the Tottenham one’s a foul, that’s quite clear. I haven’t seen this one back.
“Sometimes, with set-plays you’ve got to hold your hands up and say you can’t do much about it, but there’s others where you’ve got to look at yourselves and improve on it. I think the Bournemouth one [scored by Dean Huijsen] was tough – a great header, a great ball. Tonight, yeah, it’s disappointing to go down to 10 men, not really give them anything, look really solid in the second half, and to concede again [like that], especially the first of the game.
“Set-plays are so important in football matches and they decide games. A lot of the games when they are tight and 50-50 are decided with the first goal. The first goal has been a set-play far too many times against us, and it’s disappointing.
“How do we resolve it? Work more on the training pitch,” Maguire continued.
“I think teams now are maybe targeting our area of set-plays. The strange thing is that I don’t feel like we are conceding many chances from them. They’ve had a few set-plays tonight and we’ve dealt with them really well and then they’ve gone and scored from one.
“I think it’s about hard work, keep the belief and things will change. We have players who can defend the box well. They will change; we’ve just got to stick together.”
Finally, Maguire stressed his complete conviction in the instructions and approach of new head coach Ruben Amorim, amid a really difficult run of form for the team.
“[We’ve got to] stick together, keep it [together] as a group, keep the belief… the manager will make sure of that,” he insisted.
“We fully believe in the manager and the methods. It’s been a transition period. We know at the minute the results aren’t good enough; the table doesn’t lie. We know that when you play for this club, every game matters. Every game, you’ve got to get three points. And if not, there’s outside noise.
“So of course, we’ve got to ignore all the outside noise. But the main thing is sticking together, keeping the belief, and going into the next one with a positive attitude.”
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Thursday 26 December 2024 20:55
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