March 16, (THEWILL) – Manchester United captain, Harry Maguire, has responded to reports of discontent in the dressing room, following the club’s humiliating UEFA Champions League loss to Atletico Madrid.
United were knocked out of the competition in the final 16 round on Tuesday night, falling to a 1-0 defeat at Old Trafford after playing into their seasoned opponents’ hands with a particularly dismal second-half performance.
It is the latest in a string of mediocre and occasionally stunning results for the Red Devils this season, which includes big home defeats to rivals Liverpool and Man City, as well as a thrashing at the hands of their local rivals.
Since Ralf Rangnick took over from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, there have been constant whispers of discontent in the dressing room, notably dissatisfaction with the club’s continuous selection of out-of-sorts centre-back Maguire.
When the captain was substituted late in the game for an aggressive replacement, there were loud jeers and boos, and he faced more questions about what was going on behind the scenes after the game.
“There’s no problems in the dressing room. When you play for this club, there’s always reports and lots of media attention. It’s got nothing to do with the result”, Maguire emphasised.
United did not deserve to advance to the Champions League quarter-finals, according to the England international, since they were not good enough throughout the course of the two legs and the entire season.
“We can do more as a team”, Maguire promised. ‘We’ve got to do more, we owe it to the club, we owe it to the fans. We have to look at ourselves as players. The lads gave everything, but ultimately, it wasn’t enough. We haven’t been good enough this season.”
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
