HARRY MAGUIRE believes uncertainty over Erik ten Hag’s future was the reason for Manchester United’s worst result in Premier League history.
And he praised the manager for staying strong to lead the team to an unlikely FA Cup final victory over Manchester City, which saw the manager keep his job and signal a new dawn for the club.
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Before that, United’s season began to unravel in December when they lost five games out of eight, finished bottom of their Champions League group and began to slide down the league.
Rumors persisted that the boss would be sacked, which intensified when new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe failed to publicly support him and United finished eighth in the league.
Maguire said: “Yes, it was difficult, some of the things that happened before the Cup final were very bad, I felt.
“He handled it brilliantly, to be honest he just took each day as it came. From us players, we didn’t see anything different from the coach, so I thank him for the way he handled it. And his whole team too.
“There was a lot of uncertainty around the club. Mainly the team, the coach, all the other club employees, they didn’t know what was happening the following year. Was difficult.
“That probably hurt our performance and results a little throughout the season. Especially when it happened at Christmas time when we really fell.
“But credit to the manager, the way he handled it. To have the leadership in the way he did and produce a performance like we did in the cup final and turn things around was really impressive.”
Even after the Cup final victory, which Maguire missed through injury, the players didn’t know whether they would go to a post-match celebration in the Mayfair Marriott ballroom or to farewell Lt Hag.
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Maguire said: “It was so strange. Nobody really knew what was going on. Nobody had a guarantee.
“If you ask the players, they’ll probably say they didn’t know because no one had any idea.
“But it was really impressive the way he performed that week and took them down with a win against probably the best team in Europe at the moment.”
Maguire was devastated to miss the final due to injuries at the end of a season when he won back the fans.
After two good seasons following his £80m move from Leicester, he suffered like the rest of the team as Ole Solskjaer’s reign collapsed and Ralf Rangnick’s never took off.
Erik ten Hag was clearly not a fan as he preferred Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez and even Luke Shaw overtook him in the back three to become fifth choice.
The captain’s armband was taken from him last summer and he was heading for the exit door.
But the Sheffield lad showed the courage to stay and fight to get back into the team, earning praise from his boss.
Maguire said: “I’m very proud. I always believed in myself a lot. I think it was my third year at the club, under Ralf’s command, where it didn’t go as planned, not only for me, but for the team as well, and at the end of the day I was also the captain of the team and I was under a lot of pressure and a lot of scrutiny, and my performance was nowhere near as good as the previous two years.
“In my fourth year with Erik, I didn’t play as much as I would have liked, but every time I played I felt like I did well, but that was due to the fact that Rapha (Varane) and Licha (Martinez) did very well and kept numerous clean sheets .
“So I knew I had to wait and I spoke to the manager last year about my situation, whether I should move on and have regular football and regular game time, but he completely believed in me, he always said there would be chances.
“I backed myself to get back into his plans and was really pleased with how I handled last year. I thought my form was really, really good in every game I played.”
Still, rumors that the world’s most expensive defender could be released this summer have not disappeared.
He still has one year left on his contract with an option for another year that can be taken over by the club.
Maguire is confident the manager still wants him.
He said: “We have a good relationship. There is a lot of respect there, he was always respectful during his time with me.
“When he changed captain it was very disappointing for me but it’s part and parcel of football, you have so many ups and so many downs you just have to maintain that respect and we have a bond and we respect each other. high enough to make the relationship work and we get along really well.
“Until they tell me ‘you’re for sale’ or we want you to leave, I want to play for this club and make it successful again and all the things I hear and see from everyone involved is that I will be part of this club for the future .”
It’s a future that Maguire believes looks bright with the changes made under new owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
He said: “These are exciting times for everyone involved at the club and we are definitely heading in the right direction again. As a player and someone who cares about the club, it’s great to see that.
“It’s definitely a club with more energy to get involved with now.
“I believe the structure they achieved will return to where it should be.”
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The United defender also admitted that losing the Euros and the FA Cup final was the “most difficult” moment of his career and claims he tried too hard before both.
He continued: “It was probably the most difficult moment of my career.
“I worked really hard throughout the year to get to a position where I was in a really good position physically and mentally to play in the FA Cup final and then think about the Euros.
“Having an injury that, to be honest, wasn’t a big injury – it was just a calf injury, but it was only a three-week injury, but I only had three setbacks with it.
“When I first got injured I thought I would be fit for the FA Cup final. So I pushed myself for the final and had a setback the week before the final which ruled me out.
“At that point, again, there was no problem, I would be fit for the Euros. Then I went to England and had another setback, so yes, it was very frustrating.
“When I look back, I wish I hadn’t had a chance with all of them, so I could have thought about it.
“But I thought I would play in the cup final or be involved at some point and I thought I would be 100 per cent involved in the Euros but that just didn’t happen and maybe I just pushed myself to come back too soon but it was definitely the hardest time. of my career, definitely.”
Maguire was at the center of it all in the previous final, scoring a penalty in the shoot-out, which Italy eventually lost.
This time he supported his Three Lions teammates from afar as they reached the final but fell short again.
He said: “I managed to get through that and I was still in touch with a lot of the lads and obviously a lot of them are good friends of mine and although it was difficult that I wasn’t there, they did it. make me feel like I’m still part of the group.
“It was difficult not being there, but I still got to see the boys play and I had great groups with my family and friends, who are all big England fans, so I still enjoyed the summer, watching them do well.”
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