Harry Maguire produced another excellent performance during Manchester United's 1-0 win over Luton. Photo: Getty Images/Matthew Peters
It is a sign of the struggles Erik ten Hag is going through this season that his most impressive player over the past two indifferent months has been Harry Maguire – the player he appears to have decided to leave Old Trafford last summer.
The unconvincing victory over Luton was marked by a second-half goal from defender Victor Lindelof and two of United's constants this campaign – injury concerns and poor strikers.
Marcus Rashford – He scored 30 goals last season – He has only one goal to his name so far, while £72m summer signing Rasmus Hoylund is yet to score in 650 minutes of Premier League action.
Hoylund and Christian Eriksen were also injured in the game, which left Ten Hag with a dismal record: four clubs – Manchester City, Brighton, Brentford and Crystal Palace – each held the lead for more minutes in Premier League at Old Trafford this year. season than United.
In seven home league games so far, United have led for a total of 60 minutes in seven games, which all explains why Maguire's form has been a rare and unqualified positive. in a campaign of adversity.
was ready to stay and fight for his place.”
And as for Maguire, the England international is apologetic if he answers yes when asked if he feels justified in staying at Old Trafford when his United career was expected to end. .
“Of course,” he said. “I obviously played a few games last year, I think 16 or 17 starts. And I actually felt like I did very well in the games that I played, I just didn't play as much as I would have liked.
“But on the other hand, Rafa [Varane] and Licha [Lisandro Martinez] played brilliantly and kept a lot of clean sheets, so I had to wait, I had to be patient.
“Last year I had two or three opportunities to play a series of games and actually broke down due to illness, broke down twice due to injuries. So I never had any rhythm or games that I could prove to the coach.
“Now I understand it. I've played the last I don't know how many games and I really like my football and I really like playing for this club. So yes, I was prepared to stay and fight for my place.”
West Ham seemed Maguire's most likely destination at the end of the season, although Ten Hag must be glad he stayed given his long-term injury Martinez and the fact that Varane is clearly losing form.
England manager Gareth Southgate has steadfastly supported the 30-year-old throughout his lengthy absence from United, and that belief, as well as his own experience, has contributed to Maguire's significant improvement in form over his last eight appearances for the club.
“There was a lot of talk about me because I didn't play games but I played well for my country and went to the World Cup and played very good.
“So I was always thinking about my form. I was there, but I was up against some top center backs and they played amazing last year, so I didn't get as many opportunities as I wanted.
“But this club requires competition. into places and that's what we have in this position.”
United's drought continues
Another player United seemed desperate to sell last summer, Scott McTominay, remains top scorer club together with Bruno Fernandes with three goals.
Rashford and Hoylund's drought left United with just 13 goals from 12 games. but Maguire said: “I see them day in and day out in training and I play with the internationals next week in England and I play with the boys in training at Manchester United, they are top players, they can all score goals.
“Yes, at the moment we are not scoring enough goals, we know that. But I've always said that set-pieces play an important role in football, and in my opinion, in recent years, our attacking set-pieces have not been nearly good enough.
“For starters, going into the game, scoring small goals, in important moments, starting from the second stage with corners, it will benefit us and give us more points.”
Meanwhile, the fact that United are not playing at Old Trafford until December 6 could give them a chance to rest from the pressure at home that Maguire admits his side will have to overcome.
“I don’t feel it on the pitch, I don’t know if the other guys feel it . ” he said. “But of course winning football games gives you confidence and we've had a few defeats at Old Trafford this year.
“This is our home, it's supposed to be tough and don't give up.” “We lost a lot of results like last season and that was amazing.
“But there have been too many setbacks this year, we haven't played well enough at home and we need to fix that now before the end of the season , if we want to have a good time, we need to turn this place into a fortress.”
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