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Harry Maguire has urged his Manchester United teammates to ‘take responsibility’ for the team’s dismal form as pressure continues to mount on embattled boss Erik Ten Hag.
The centre-back proved the unlikely hero on Thursday evening after his last-minute header saved a point against Porto in a chaotic 3-3 draw in the Europa League.
The Red Devils were already under intense scrutiny following a humiliating 3-0 defeat at home to Tottenham Hotspur just four days earlier, with goals from Brennan Johnson, Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke sinking a woeful United.
Maguire has been left out in the cold this season and has not started a Premier League match since losing 2-1 to Brighton at Old Trafford on August 24.
Now the England international has stressed that it is the players who should bear the brunt of the blame for United’s misfortunes and not Ten Hag. the Guardian reports.
Harry Maguire has urged his Manchester United teammates to ‘take responsibility’ for the team’s dismal form
The central defender proved to be the unlikely hero on Thursday evening after his last-minute header saved a point against Porto
Ten Hag kept his job in the summer but is now under intense pressure again after a terrible run of form
He said: ‘It’s clearly not good enough. As a footballer it’s easy to look around and blame other people, and blame your teammate, the staff or the tactics. You have to look at yourself.
‘We are the ones who go on the field. We are the ones who have to defend. You have to take responsibility. And each of us must do better in these moments.
“When we’re under pressure, I feel like as a team we’ve finally had to give in over the last year and that can’t happen.
‘We have to be able to withstand that pressure. Create better principles within ourselves. We have to increase the pace if we defend our box a lot better.’
Maguire also made the surprising claim that this United team was performing at a higher level than last season.
In February the Red Devils defeated an in-form Villa side and as they prepare to face the same opponent again on Sunday, the defender is confident they can repeat the feat.
“We have to be confident in what we did there last season,” he said. ‘It was on fire there [Villa’s form]. Then we went and got the win. And we feel like we are playing better than last season.
‘The results are not yet available. The performance was very poor against Spurs. Other than that, I think we should have more points on the board. But that’s not the case, so we have to do something about it from Sunday.
Samu Omorodion scored a double for Porto to put United on the brink of another defeat
United – who had captain Bruno Fernandes sent off – have suffered back-to-back 3-0 defeats at home to Spurs and Liverpool in the Premier League
Villa are top of the world after beating Bayern Munich 1-0 in the Champions League on Wednesday evening thanks to a wonder goal from super sub Jhon Duran
“It’s a tough game, but what a great place to go, play football and try to get three points.”
United sit fourteenth in the table, albeit with a game in hand against many of the teams above them, and have just one of the bottom five in what has been a dismal start to the season.
Villa, meanwhile, is on top of the world after beating Bayern Munich 1-0 in the Champions League on Wednesday evening thanks to a wonder goal from super sub Jhon Duran.