Former club captain says players didn’t “handle transition period well enough” and “took too long embedding new ideas”
Manchester United defender Harry Maguire has admitted that nothing can make up for the poor season that the team have had, but believes they have a responsibility to win the Europa League trophy to give fans some good memories to hold on to.
United’s 2024/25 domestic campaign is set to go down as the worst in the club’s Premier League history. They are marooned in 14th place, their lowest league finish in the Premier League era, and the centre-back didn’t shy away from that.
“It wouldn’t save the season because I think it’s been disappointing,” said Maguire. “There’s been too many games that we’ve lost, far too inconsistent.”
Despite the struggles at home, however, United’s European form has been superb – on paper at least. United are the only side to remain unbeaten in European competitions this season, a run of 13 games.
They’ve won seven out of nine (drawing the remaining two) under Ruben Amorim, who replaced Erik ten Hag in November, and are now all but certain to reach the final after their 3-0 victory over Athletic Club at the San Mames stadium in Bilbao.
“It’s been a difficult season,” said Maguire. “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, it’s what they deserve, so that’s the most important thing.”
Maguire then gave an honest assessment of the squad, confessing that the players themselves must shoulder blame for the poor performances this season.
“It’s been a bit of a mess in the middle of the season,” said the £80-million-pound signing. “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.”
Although both Amorim and Maguire have now said that winning the Europa League will not save United’s season, it’s expected of them to say that. In reality it can go a very long way.
United have the chance to win European silverware, which they haven’t done since that night in Stockholm in 2017 under Jose Mourinho. It would be the perfect boost towards next season for Ruben Amorim.
Crucially, it also provides Champions League football, which could secure millions of pounds to fund a squad rebuild. It has been clear for a while that the club are cash-strapped, and handicapped in the transfer market due to PSR obligations. They have even considered selling talented academy graduates like Alejandro Garnacho in search of funds.
However, there are still at least 180 minutes of football between United and the Europa League trophy.
“Still a long way to go,” said Maguire. “I think we’ve still got a job to do in the second leg of the tie.
“We know that they could score first, but we’ve got to remain calm. We’ve got a lot of senior players who need to step up in their moments.”
