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Louise Thomas
Editor
Harry Maguire says Manchester United have to stick together as “everyone piles on” under-fire boss Erik ten Hag and his team ahead of Sunday’s crunch trip to Aston Villa.
The misfiring Red Devils are in desperate need of a shot in the arm after last weekend’s 3-0 home humbling at the hands of Tottenham was compounded in Portugal on Thursday.
United blew a two-goal lead away to Porto and were staring down the barrel of defeat in the Europa League until super-sub Maguire’s thumping stoppage-time header snatched a 3-3 draw.
The result did little to improve the mood around a club in desperate need of a positive performance and result at in-form Villa on Sunday.
“This is my sixth season now and I know what it’s about,” the 31-year-old said. “I know that you go through difficult moments and everything, everyone piles on you.
“And difficult times, you’ve got to come through and you’ve got to stick together within the group and have that belief that you can go there and get the three points.
“We’ve proven over the last couple of seasons with the manager that we can beat anybody when we perform. But the problem has been consistency and we need to start showing that.”
Asked about such problems and conceding three or more goals in 24 different matches under Ten Hag, Maguire said: “No, obviously it’s not good enough. For sure, we’ve got to do more.
“But as a footballer, it’s easy to look around and blame your team-mates or blame the staff or the tactics. You’ve got to look at yourself.
“We’re the ones that go on the pitch. We’re the ones that have to defend.
“You’ve got to take responsibility and each and every one of us has got to do better in these moments.”
Co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe sidestepped a question about Ten Hag’s future after the Porto draw, which left United with just three wins from their opening 10 matches heading to a Villa side buoyed by their memorable win against Bayern Munich.
But Maguire takes heart from February’s late 2-1 win at Villa Park and recent performances, despite the results.
“We’ve got to find belief within ourselves, take the belief from what we did last season at Villa Park,” Maguire said.
“We went there and got the victory we needed. And we feel like we’re playing better than we were last season.
“The results haven’t been there. Obviously, the performance was really poor against Spurs. Apart from that, I feel like we should have more points on the board.
“But they’re not, so we need to do something about it starting with Sunday. Tough game but what a great place to go.”
United need a positive result heading into an international break that Maguire will spend away from England matters.
Maguire won his 64th cap in interim boss Lee Carsley’s first match in charge but was omitted from the squad for October’s Nations League double-header.
“I’ve had a chat with the manager and he spoke about his reasons,” Maguire said.
“He told me I’m a big part of the future and he just wants to see the other lads playing in this camp and he doesn’t want to take me if I’m not going to start either game, which is fair enough.
“I’ll go away, get some rest. Of course I’m disappointed. I want to play every game for England and it’s something I’ve done throughout the last seven years of my career, so I’m disappointed.
“But I know where he’s coming from and I’ve got to make sure I perform when I’m on the pitch and give him no option to leave me out.
“I played in his first game in charge and, yes, I did really well. There’s no hiding away from that so I was a little bit surprised, I must say.
“But obviously I back his decision and he’s told me I’m part of the future. So we’ll see what comes in November.”
