Last season was nowhere near acceptable for this club, asserts Harry Maguire

After spending quite a lot of money on signing Cristiano Ronaldo, Raphael Varane and Jadon Sancho last summer, a lot was expected from the Red Devils especially after they finished second during the 2020/21 season. However, things didn’t go according to plan as the club instead struggled to find their footing and that eventually cost Ole Gunnar Solskjaer his job. The situation didn’t change even after Ralf Rangnick was placed in interim charge and the Red Devils eventually succumbed to a sixth place finish.

It has many wondering how the appointment of Erik ten Hag will turn this team around especially given the club’s struggles during the 2021/22 season. In light of that, Harry Maguire has hit out at the team’s performance and admitted that Manchester United is “all about winning trophies”, and that their performance last season “was nowhere near acceptable for this club”. He also revealed that the players also struggled to perform at an individual level and that needs to change.

"This club's all about winning trophies. From where we were last season we've got to look at huge improvement. Last year was nowhere near acceptable for this club. We got knocked out of cups early, we didn't give our fans anything to look forward to,” Maguire said, reported Sky Sports.

"We've got to make sure we're in these competitions for large parts of the season and come March time we're still playing in these major competitions and major games. Last season, in the last two or three months, we were playing Saturday, Saturday, Saturday and this club is not used to that and shouldn't be doing that.

"We were out of every cup and didn't perform well in the league. We've got to look for a major improvement in performances and give our fans something to be excited about. You can always find excuses in everyday life and we've just got to look at ourselves. As individuals, we didn't perform well enough and the team ultimately didn't perform well enough collectively,” he added.

Erik ten Hag’s appointment has seen a lot of fans excited at what that could hold for Manchester United’s future and the fans are in the same boat. That includes Harry Maguire as he revealed that Ten Hag has “brought a lot of energy, a lot of positive vibes” and that the team has bought into that.

"It's been really good, obviously a fresh start after last season. Ten Hag has brought a lot of energy, a lot of positive vibes and the lads have bought into it really well up to now. It was only pre-season but we're fit and ready to go. We're looking forward to the season,” he added.