Harry Maguire has talked about the defensive improvement made by the club under the new manager Ralf Rangnick this season.
Ralf Rangnick has had a positive impact on Manchester United’s defense since taking over as manager, but Harry Maguire believes the club still has a lot of work to do in the second half of the season.
The German coach has now taken charge of ten United games, winning six, drawing three, and only losing one.
Although Rangnick’s performances have not always been impressive, it looks that the German is getting his ideas across to his players, with encouraging wins over Brentford and West Ham in the Red Devils’ previous two outings.
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With only seven goals conceded in his ten games in charge, Maguire believes the interim manager has improved the defense.
While reported by the club’s official website, he said:
“I think there are lots of different principles that he’s brought into the club. But, for sure, we haven’t conceded as many goals, we haven’t conceded as many chances. It’s a team effort; it’s not a back-four effort or a goalkeeping effort. Our lives are a little bit easier from the way that they are working and covering spaces in front of us, so it’s a huge effort from us all.”
The 28-year-old has been hugely criticized in recent months following a streak of poor performances. Even though the captain has only played two games after returning from injury, he looks a lot better now than he did before. Perhaps the collective effort helped to relieve some pressure on the defence, allowing him to get back to his form.
Maguire has been a composed centre-back this season, and as a result, the defensive line as a whole appears more solid and organized.
Furthermore, modern football pushes us to defend from the front, as top clubs frequently employ similar tactics, and the work of our midfielders and forwards must also be included when discussing our defensive stability.
We can improve much more if we continue on this path as we strive for success this season. Defensive solidity would go a long way toward helping us qualify for the Champions League next season and mount a real FA Cup challenge.
This Manchester United team still has a long way to go.
