Harry Maguire Opens Up On “Difficult” Last Season

Harry Maguire endured a difficult time last season with the club.

Much like many players of Manchester United last season, the club had a torrid time, getting knocked out of all cup competitions fairly quickly and finishing 6th in the Premier League.

With a season that started so spectacularly with the 5-1 thrashing of Leeds United on the opening day, as well as the return of Cristiano Ronaldo and his fantastic second debut against Newcastle United, not much else happened.

Those few events were pretty much the peak of the season, with losses to Watford, Manchester City and Liverpool seeing Ole Gunnar Solskjær sacked from his position as head coach and the club imploding slowly as the season went on.

As club captain, Harry Maguire bore a lot of blame for the problems at the club last season, and has now opened up on the period.

Bruno Fernandes, Raphael Varane and Harry Maguire. (Alamy)

Speaking to club media, Maguire detailed: “Last season was a long, tough, difficult season.

“But we’ve got to put it behind us now and look forward to the future under the new manager. We know we’ve got to improve on last season and we will do.

“We’ll work hard,” he continued. “The lads have all come back in great shape.”

After Ralf Rangnick took charge for the remainder of the season, it was eventually decided that Erik ten Hag would be instituted at the helm of the footballing squad, with his years at Ajax impressing many around the world.

Last season, there were many complaints from fans to dressing room sources alike about the lack of fitness of some of the squad’s players, and with respect to this interview, Maguire references the fitness level a number of times.

When discussing getting back to training after his holiday, Maguire described: I came back a week later, [as one of] the international lads, so when you see the [other] boys back at Carrington working hard, you know they’re working hard on their fitness and you want to get back as soon as possible and join in.”

He continued to mention fitness with respect to understanding their current levels and the levels they need to be at come the Premier League opening weekend.

Manchester United squad

“We’ve come back in good shape, but we need to get fitter. I think, on behalf of us last year, we know we need to do more: we need to be fitter, we need to be physically better and we need to be mentally better.”

During the 2021/22 season, many fans discussed the apparent lack of tactical cohesion within the squad when they played matches.

There were often questions surrounding what was actually covered during training sessions, however Maguire has made it clear what Erik ten Hag has been drilling with them.

“I think the first couple of weeks is all about volume and working on yourself physically,” Maguire said. “We’ve also had a lot of tactical ideas thrown in there too.

“We know the season is four weeks away and it comes around quick, so you’ve got to work on both as [much] as you can but in the first few weeks, [working] physically is the most important.”

Manchester United are due to play Liverpool tomorrow in Bangkok to kick off their pre-season.

The club then travels to Australia to face three opponents in Melbourne Victory, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace, when imminent signing Christian Eriksen should join the club after signing later this week, before flying back to Europe to play Atletico Madrid and Rayo Vallecano.

The Premier League season starts on 7 August for Erik ten Hag’s men, with a fixture against Brighton & Hove Albion at Old Trafford awaiting.