Ruben Amorim has been questioned after Man Utd lost at Wolves. (Image: Getty)
Harry Maguire has launched a staunch defence of Manchester United head coach following the Boxing Day defeat against relegation-threatened Wolves. The Red Devils slumped to a 2-0 loss at Molineux, a fifth in seven games and third on the bounce, to remain 14th in the .
Matheus Cunha opened the scoring directly from a corner, the second such goal a United goalkeeper has conceded in the space of a week.
Hee-Chan Hwang wrapped up the three points in a 99th-minute counter-attack, rubbing salt in the wounds of Amorim, who forgot what losing felt like during his dominant reign at Sporting.
After full-time, retired goalkeeper Joe Hart criticised the Portuguese boss’ tactics when defending set-pieces, questioning why Wolves players were allowed to swarm him for Cunha’s goal.
” have got Andre Onana, and for all his strengths – along with some other goalkeepers – dominating his six-yard box is not one of them,” Hart said on Match of the Day.
“So to allow Wolves to line him with four players, practically unopposed around him, he’s got so much to concentrate on when the ball comes in.
“He’s got to deal with Doherty; he physically gets involved with him whilst Bueno and [Manuel] Ugarte are to his left.
“He physically engages with Doherty, and once he does that, and then he realises the ball is over his head.”
Harry Maguire has defended Ruben Amorim. (Image: Getty)
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Amorim is already under external pressure for results, winning four and losing five of his first 10 matches as United’s head coach.
However, Maguire has publicly backed the 39-year-old, stressing that, despite suggestions to the contrary, the players are buying into his methods while they’re in a challenging transition period.
“I think it is really tough for the manager and his team coming in because it’s not like he has come in with a similar style to the old manager; they are the opposite of what they demand and what they want,” Maguire told MUTV.
“It is probably tough for them because they know they want to work with the team on the training pitch and improve things, such as the defending principles and the set-play principles.
“It has been a tough month with games, but again, we do not want to use that as an excuse.
“This club demands winning, and at the moment, we are not. It is not good enough for ourselves, for the club and for the fans.”
Maguire added that he expects results to turn for the better if United stick with their current instructions and disputes criticism of the team’s defending, insisting they aren’t conceding many chances.
He added: “The boy’s header for Bournemouth at the weekend was unbelievable. I know from myself that it was one of the hardest headers you can do, and you couldn’t do it again if you tried.
“The thing is, we have got to look at ourselves, we have got to improve, and obviously, two direct from a corner is something that we will look at and try and improve.
“But we will look at ourselves because they are deciding games, and set-plays are so important in football now with teams targeting them.”