Harry Maguire insisted Erik ten Hag still had the belief of the dressing room after Manchester United threw away a two-goal lead to draw 3-3 with Porto in the Europa League.
Speculation surrounding Ten Hag’s future had dominated the pre-match discussion ahead of United’s trip to Porto but the Dutchman’s night got off to a dream start, with Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Hojlund both netting inside 20 minutes.
But Pepe hit back with a header on the rebound to swing the momentum back in Porto’s favour before Samu Omorodion struck either side of half-time to take the roof off the Estadio do Dragao.
Bruno Fernandes was shown a red card for a second time in as many matches in the 81st minute and the Red Devils looked to be sleepwalking into another defeat before second-half substitute Maguire nodded home a dramatic stoppage-time equaliser.
The result means United have picked up just two points from their two opening games in the competition and Ten Hag will come under intense pressure once again when his side return to Premier League action away to Aston Villa in just three days’ time.
Asked whether United’s players still believe in Ten Hag, Maguire told TNT Sports: ‘Yeah, definitely.
‘To be honest, I’ve played for this club for six years so I know how it works.
‘When you go through a bad spell, players come under pressure but also the manager does.
‘He’s experienced enough, he’s been in the game long enough, he’s been at this club long enough that I’m sure he’s learned how to deal with it.
‘It’s part and parcel of playing for this club or managing this club. It’s part of the privilege that you have.’
The former United captain added: ‘After every game you analyse and you speak amongst yourselves.
‘The manager spoke, a few members of staff spoke and the players spoke as well.
‘It’s pretty normal. I’ve been in many dressing rooms after the game where everyone has a chat and it speaks about what we can do better.’
United’s defence were at sixes and sevens before Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martinez were brought off, with Maguire and Jonny Evans coming on in their place for the final ten minutes of the match.
‘I think when you go 2-0 up away from home at a place like this you’ve got to be a little more solid and secure,’ Maguire continued.
‘There were far too many gaps, too many crosses coming into the box, for sure. I think in that first half there was five or six dangerous balls coming into the box and they ultimately punished us for it.
‘We played really well with the ball in the first half, just really poorly without it.’
United have developed a habit for conceding goals in clusters under Ten Hag, which Maguire put down to a ‘mental issue’ resulting from a lack of ‘belief’.
‘I think it’s a mental issue. It’s something we’ve got to overcome,’ the England defender went on.
‘It probably starts with belief. When we go 2-0 up and concede, does the belief go a little bit between the boys that we can go on and win the game? It’s something we need to be aware of and focus on.
‘We need to make sure when we do concede that we get together, we regroup and we stick together because that’s part and parcel of football and it’s something we have to do better.’
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