According to an interview on Manchester United’s official website, Harry Maguire has admitted that the Red Devils are ‘poor’ at defending set-plays.
Maguire added that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have “never really been a team which has conceded a lot of chances.”
It seems as though the 26-year-old is mostly encouraged by his side’s performances at the back this season.
The Manchester outfit signed Maguire last summer for £80m, as per BBC Sport. The deal makes the England international the most expensive defender ever.
Maguire’s performances have been mixed since his marquee move, regardless the defender’s leadership skills have seen him appointed as United’s new captain recently.
Here’s what Maguire had to say on United’s defence:
“We’re keeping a lot more clean sheets than we were at the start of season and we’ve never really been a team which has conceded a lot of chances.”
“We’ve been poor from set-plays with our defending and we’ve had a couple of great goals scored against us from outside the box,”
“But we haven’t really been having games where David [De Gea] has had to make five or six saves, apart from maybe the Carabao Cup second leg against [Manchester] City, when David was brilliant.”
The Mirror report that United have conceded 10 goals from set-pieces this season. The Red Devils have allowed the joint-third most goals from dead ball situations this season out of all the top-flight teams.
With the Manchester outfit conceded 29 times in the leagues this season, this means that more than a third a of the goals in their own net have come from set-pieces.
The team absolutely have to improve in this area if they’re serious about taking the Red Devils back towards the top anytime soon.
United will have to be at their best from set-piece situations to get a result against Chelsea on Monday evening in a clash that looks set to have a massive impact on both sides’ hopes of finishing in the top four.
The encounter could be won or lost from dead-ball scenarios, Frank Lampard’s side scored two goals from set-pieces in their last Premier League clash.
