YOU’RE WRONG ROY, WE DO HAVE LEADERS
Captain Maguire dismisses Keane’s United criticism
FROM one Manchester United captain to another, Harry Maguire yesterday dismissed criticism from Roy Keane that his team are lacking leadership on the pitch.
United face Istanbul Basaksehir in Turkey this evening looking to maintain their 100 per cent start in Group H against a backdrop of poor Premier League results.
Sunday’s 1-0 defeat by Arsenal at Old Trafford brought a withering assessment from former United skipper Keane, who said there was a lack of leadership in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s squad.
Maguire defended himself and his team- mates by insisting that there are enough strong characters at United to help the club through a difficult start to the season.
‘I haven’t seen his comments,’ said Maguire rather surprisingly. ‘ We don’t look at what’ s happening, especially after a negative result, we don’t bring the negativity into the place.
‘We stay positive. I can say for sure there are a lot of leaders in this squad. I’m the captain and I have a lot of leadership around me with staff and players. So, no, there’s a lot of leaders.’
As if that issue wasn’ t unwelcome enough for Maguire, the 27- year- old faced more awkward questions yesterday as United prepared to fly to Turkey. The last time he was in that part of the world, the England defender was arrested following an incident on holiday on the Greek island of Mykonos in August.
Maguire was found guilty of repeated bodily harm, attempted bribery and violence against public employees, although the conviction has been nullified while he appeals. Solskjaer said that he would monitor Maguire’s state of mind during the early weeks of the season and the player has been criticised for his form, not least after h he was sent off on E England duty against D Denmark last month.
Asked how he has dealt with the flak, particularly on social media, Maguire replied bluntly: ‘ Don’t go on it it, don’t read it.’
Maguire, who has said that he feared for his life when confronted by plain- clothed Greek police officers, insisted yesterday that he has put the trauma behind him.
‘My mind is fully focused on football,’ he said. ‘I had a difficult period in the summer but now I am fully focused. I come into training each day, work as hard as I can and focus on each game as it comes. I can only say that I’m still fully focused on improving and taking this club forward.’
While United have appeared to move forward on occasions this season, they have also taken some worrying steps back.
A pair of excellent Champions League wins over Paris Saint-Germain and RB Leipzig have put United in an excellent position ahead of facing Group H’s bottom-placed team today.
But their European form has been in contrast to three defeats in four Premier League games at home, including a 6-1 humiliation by Tottenham.
‘It’s not something we can put our finger on,’ said Maguire. ‘We don’t look at Champions League or Premier League, we just go into the game and try to win. Obviously our Premier League results haven’t been as good. We let ourselves go against Tottenham, especially when we went down to 10 men. To concede six in any game, especially at this club, isn’t good enough.’
Solskjaer also had to respond to Keane’s comments yesterday, after the Irishman warned that this group of United players will end up costing the Norwegian his job as manager.
‘Roy has always been outspoken and I’m very glad I have the players we’ve got here,’ said Solskjaer.
‘We’ve got different jobs and Roy’s job is to give his opinion. I always listen to Roy but we move on here with a great group of players and I’m sure we’ll see a response.’