Harry Maguire is involved in yet another scenario where a Manchester United manager is facing the sack with Erik ten Hag coming under increasing pressure at Old Trafford
Harry Maguire isn’t naive to the pressure and fate that falls upon Manchester United managers as he said “I know how it works”.
The centre-half came off the bench to head home a stoppage time equaliser in Porto, salving a point for the Red Devils. It came after they’d let a 2-0 lead slip to trail 3-2 in the second-half as Erik ten Hag was set to face even more questions.
Pressure has ramped up on the Dutchman following a slow start to the campaign. He survived a summer review but there is still the danger of the INEOS hierarchy opting to make an early change with United performing poorly and conceding a concerning amount of goals.
Maguire was an inspired substitution, but only after his team had threatened to lose a game they were in control of. The defender moved to Manchester in the summer of 2019 and has seen several managers come and go so isn’t dealing with his first rocky patch.
The ex-Leicester man was signed by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who faced numerous questions about his future across his three-year tenure. He was eventually sacked in 2021 with Maguire often seen as a scapegoat throughout the Norwegian’s time at the club.
He said: “When you go on a bad spell players come under pressure and also the manager does. He’s experienced enough and been at this club long enough so I’m sure he knows how to deal with it. It’s part of the privilege you have playing for this club.”
Ten Hag survived a review in the summer with the new INEOS owners opting to stick by the ex-Ajax boss following his success in the FA Cup final. However familiar flaws have remained this term and there is talk of a change in the dugout.
The manner of the performance in Porto will have done little to ease the pressure despite Ten Hag adamant his side do not have a defensive problem. He cited their recent run of shutouts as an example of their qualities but Maguire bemoaned their performance on Thursday night.
He said: “When you go 2-0 up and then concede, does the belief go a bit with the boys that we can go on and win? It’s something we need to focus on. It’s happening far too many times. Every time you concede you have to reset and go back to the game plan which got us in the lead. It’s something we need to improve. If we want to be successful this season we can’t keep conceding two goals.”
