Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
YOU’RE ALL JEALOUS
We’re biggest club in the world and people don’t want us to do well because of the success we’ve had
HARRY MAGUIRE has hit back at Manchester United’s critics – insisting their attacks are based on jealousy of “the biggest club in the world”.
The United skipper led his side to an important 3-1 win at high-f lying Everton on S a tu rd ay, w h i c h helped avoid the worst star t to a league season for the Old Trafford club since 1989. Afterwards Maguire rounded on the detractors – who have put manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer under pressure – when he said: “At this club one thing I’ve noticed in my time here – I’ve been here a year and a half – is we are the most talked-about club in the world.
“Why? Because we are the biggest club in the world. People don’t want us to do well. Probably because of the success we’ve had in the past.
“We have to live up to that, we have to react to it and don’t let the negatives get into our bubble inside the training ground. Sometimes it is difficult for the lads.”
United arrived at Goodison on the back of two embarrassing defeats in a week, which again piled the pressure on the inconsistent Solskjaer, who seems to preside over feast or famine at the Manchester club.
But Maguire argued the win at Goodison, which placed them 14th in the table, seven points above the relegation zone, was evidence of their fighting spirit.
“We reacted well to two poor results. We felt we were on the right track after Leipzig – a 5-0 win – and we let ourselves down against Arsenal l ast Sunday,” he said.
“It wasn’t good enough as a performance. In the week again we gave Istanbul a soft goal and found it too hard to create chances to come back.
“We knew thi s was an important game to get three points. We reacted well but it is only a start.”
The Goodison victory came at a cost for United though, with S ol skja er c onfirming Marcus Rashford, Luke Shaw and Victor Lindelof picked up injuries which “could keep them out for some time”.
They will have scans to assess the extent of their injuries.