Manchester United defender Harry Maguire has attributed the Red Devils’ difficult start to life under new head coach Ruben Amorim to the completely different playing philosophy which the Portuguese is trying to implement at Old Trafford.
Amorim’s United are currently struggling to implement his 3-4-2-1 formation, a tactical setup with a huge fundamental difference from the 4-3-3 setup deployed by former manager Erik ten Hag. The Red Devils have suffered five losses in their first ten games under the former Sporting CP manager and are currently on a run of three straight defeats in all competitions.
Maguire, having featured at the heart of United’s defense in all of three recent losses, has attributed their inconsistency to the drastic change in playing style, noting the big difference between the demands of playing for former manager Ten Hag and current boss Amorim.
“The thing is with the managers and the styles, it is not like they have come in and they have similar styles,” he told Sky Sports. “They are the total opposite in terms of what they want and what they demand.
“So the transition period is going to be tough. We all have great belief in the manager and all his coaching staff. I am sure things are going to turn around. He knows exactly what he needs to do to get this club back. He has come in and done everything he needs to do. He is really demanding.”
However, the former Red Devils skipper refused to hide under the excuse of adjustment, rather, he stated that United’s recent struggles was as a result of the team being “nowhere good enough.”
“We are just doing everything we can to climb the table,” Maguire said. “We can’t really set a target at the moment because we are nowhere near good enough and nowhere near where we want to be in the league table.
“It is really disappointing what we have done until now. Everybody knows that. We know it is not good enough for this club.”
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