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Manchester United defender Harry Maguire has insisted that he and his teammates are fully to blame for the “mess” at the club since Ruben Amorim’s appointment last year.
Amorim has endured a tough time at Old Trafford since replacing Erik ten Hag in November. The Portuguese coach has been unable to have an impact, with United currently languishing in 14th place in the Premier League table on a mere 39 points and just four games left to play.
United have lost 11 of the 23 top-flight games Amorim has taken charge of as the players struggle to get fully acclimated to the demands of his preferred 3-4-3 system.
But, the Europa League has proven to be an escape for the Red Devils this term. The 20-time English champions remain the only unbeaten team in Europe, following their 3-0 victory over Athletic Club on Thursday.
United now have one foot in the final ahead of the return leg at Old Trafford next week.
Maguire spoke to reporters after the final whistle at San Mames and conceded that the players have simply not been good enough under Amorim.
On whether winning the Europa League would save their season, Maguire said [as quoted by Manchester Evening News], “It wouldn’t save the season because I think it’s been disappointing. There’s been too many games that we’ve lost, far too inconsistent.”
“It’s been a bit of a mess in the middle of the season, the transition period we didn’t handle it well enough, us players. We didn’t take the responsibility well enough from moving manager to manager and we took too long in embedding into new ideas.”
“It’s been a difficult season, it’s been a disappointing season but of course, football is about memories, it’s about creating memories, it’s about winning trophies and we have a great opportunity to win a trophy. For our fans, that’s what they deserve, so that’s the most important thing.”
Asked whether this campaign has been his best at United, Maguire answered, “No, I wouldn’t say it’s my best season at the club if I’m being honest.”
“The first two seasons (2019-20 and 2020-21) coming into a team that finished seventh. I think we kept the most clean sheets in Europe, finished third. The second season, again I think we were second most in Europe, finished second.”
“So I think that’s my two best seasons at the club, form-wise. Although I must say the big moments this year for sure have been a lot better than previous seasons.”
On the strong possibility of making it to the Europa final, Maguire remarked, “I think we’ve put ourselves in a great position. There’s no doubt about it, coming here and winning 3-0. It’s a great position.”
“I think everyone expects us to be in the final. So we’ve just got to prepare well. We’ve got to prepare like it’s a game at 0-0 and go into the game and be aggressive and play on the front foot. We’ll be going into that game next Thursday to win the game.”
“And that’s the mentality we must have because we’re at Old Trafford and playing at Old Trafford demands winning football matches.”
The 32-year-old continued, “I think there’s every scenario that can happen in a game. We know that they could score first, but we’ve got to remain calm. The first 20 minutes out there tonight were intense.”
“We’ve got a lot of senior players who need to step up in their moments. I think Case was brilliant tonight, Bruno as well. So we have senior players who need to handle these moments really well. And like I said, we’ll be going into next Thursday and trying to get the win and moving to the final.”
Meanwhile, United are back in action on Sunday when they go away to the Gtech Community Stadium to face Brentford. Kick-off is at 14:00 BST.
Featured image Clive Brunskill via Getty Images
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