Harry Maguire has called on his Manchester United teammates to take personal responsibility for the team's poor form rather than blaming manager Erik ten Hag, as they prepare for Sunday's crucial trip to Aston Villa. United are aiming to recover from last weekend's disheartening 3-0 defeat to Tottenham at Old Trafford and a 3-2 loss to Porto in the Europa League, despite leading 2-0 at one point, before Maguire's late equaliser.
The Dutch manager is under scrutiny with United having collected just seven points from six matches. Under Ten Hag, the team has conceded three goals in 24 games, the highest among top-flight sides over the past 26 months. "Clearly, it's not good enough," Maguire stated. "As footballers, it's simple to point fingers and blame others, whether it's teammates, staff, or tactics. We must look inward.
We are the ones on the field. We are the ones who must defend. Responsibility must be taken. Each of us needs to improve in these situations. When under pressure, I feel the team has conceded goals over the past year, which shouldn't happen. We must withstand that pressure. Improve our principles. Increase the tempo when defending our goal.
Last season, United won 2-1 at Villa Park. "We must draw confidence from our performance there last season," Maguire said. "Villa was in good form then, but we secured the victory. We feel we're playing better than last season.
The results haven't reflected our performances. The Spurs game was particularly poor. Apart from that, I believe we should have more points. But we don't, so we need to act, starting with Sunday. It's a challenging game, but a great opportunity to play and secure three points."
Maguire expressed surprise at being omitted from Lee Carsley's England squad for the upcoming Nations League games against Greece and Finland, despite being selected for the interim manager's first squad in September. After discussing with Carsley, the defender understands the decision to assess John Stones, Marc Guéhi, Ezri Konsa, and Levi Colwill instead and hopes to be involved next month.
Maguire said: "I played well in his first game against Ireland. There's no denying that. I was a bit surprised. But I support his decision, and he assured me I'm part of the future. We'll see what happens in November. We had a chat this morning, and he explained his reasons. He sees me as a key part of the future. He wants to observe the other lads in this camp. He doesn't want to include me if I'm not starting either game, which is fair. I'll take some rest."
