Maguire Happy With Man United’s Improved Defense

Harry Maguire is happy with the improvement shown by the Manchester United defense after being beaten 1-6 by Tottenham at home earlier this month.

The defeat saw United face their worst record in the English Premier League (EPL) after losing by five goals for the fourth time in history and for the first time since losing the same record to Manchester City in October 2011.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side then never lost for four games and maintained an unbeaten record in two consecutive games against Chelsea and RB Leipzig after recording victories at Newcastle United and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).

Maguire, who plays in every minute of the EPL action this season, admits his team is in crisis after conceding 12 goals in the first three games.

“After (the defeat to) Tottenham, we all perished,” he said on the club’s official website.

“We have just faced three games this season but it feels like we are in a big crisis.

“It was a strange feeling but we did not expect to lose at Old Trafford – and we did not expect to lose like that.

“We missed too many in the first three games, so as a defensive unit, which has recorded the most unbeaten matches in Europe last year, we realize we need to improve, we need to be stronger,” he said.

United faced 54 attempts in their first three league games – 18 of which were accurate attempts – where it was the highest record of any team during the period – West Ham being the second worst team with 52.

However, Solskjaer’s side have only 13 attempts in the last two games – only Brighton and Hove Albion have a better record with 10 – and Maguire has come forward to explain their hard work lately.

“I think after the international break, we are not as easy to score as last year.

“We play as a solid unit from a solid foundation.

“It’s very important – especially for the defensive line – to make sure we give the front line players every chance to win the match.

“If they scored one, two or three goals, it should have ended in victory and that is what we are doing right now.

“It has already started. This season is still early. It will be a long journey but we need to improve.

“We are aware of it and we are doing it at the moment but the journey is still a long way off,” he added.