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Manchester United defender Harry Maguire has credited head coach Ruben Amorim for his dramatic uptick in form.
Maguire formed part of a valiant defensive effort which saw a 10-man United side hold out for more than an hour to force a penalty shootout against Arsenal in the FA Cup on Sunday.
United eventually won the match, with Joshua Zirkzee converting the decisive kick to send the club through to the fourth round of the competition.
Maguire managed an astonishing 11 clearances and five blocked shots during the 104 minutes he was on the pitch. He also won all of his aerial duels.
When he was taken off and replaced by Leny Yoro, the England international was afforded a standing ovation by the travelling United supporters. It was yet another brilliant defensive display from the 31-year-old, who is certainly cementing his place as one of the very important players in Amorim’s plans.
The former Leicester City man spoke to The Mirror and explained, “Ruben said to me that when it came across to him that I had an option [in my contract], he said it was a no brainer for him. It’s given me confidence and belief that they want me at the club and part of this project. He’s really demanding.”
“And I’m happy to be here. I want this club to be back fighting for titles and not fighting where we are in the table right now. We’ve got a long way to go.”
“I think my first couple of years at United was probably the best part of my career. I’m 31 now, coming up to 32 in a couple of months, but I’m getting back to that level. I also think I was at that level last season as well, so it’s been 18 months now where I’d say I’ve been playing consistently well for this club again.”
“There’s no doubt I had a tough year in my third season when Ralf took over, I wasn’t at my best, I knew that, I knew I needed to find something to stay at this club because it demands high standards and I feel like I’ve found something. Mentally and physically I feel good.”
Maguire insisted that he and his teammates must now show more consistency, starting against Southampton.
“Our consistency this year has been really really poor. We can produce moments. We produced a moment in the FA Cup final last year and played really well but over a long period, our consistency’s been bad. It’s something that we do need to nail down, starting with Thursday.”
“I think it’s important that we stick together. But we also have to realise that we are still where we are in the league table. We’ve got big games coming up, we can’t rest because the league table to look at is embarrassing so we’ve got kick on from this.”
“We’ve got good experienced players who’ve had good careers. We all have belief that we should be a lot higher in the table. We know that. To be sat where we are in the Premier League, it’s nowhere near good enough for this squad. But it’s down to us to change it. We’ve got to go on a little run. You don’t really look after results. You’ve got to look after performances.”
“You can get too wound up looking at results and worrying about results. If the performances are high over a period of time, the results will come and that’s what we’ve got to maintain.”
Maguire will be back in action on Thursday as the Red Devils host relegation-threatened Southampton at Old Trafford.
Featured image Alex Pantling via Getty Images
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