Harry Maguire shakes hands with Troy Deeney

Maguire: We weren't good enough

Sunday 22 December 2019 17:40

Manchester United captain Harry Maguire admits the Reds weren’t good enough during our 2-0 defeat at Watford.

Our no.5 spoke to Sky Sports after proceedings came to a close at Vicarage Road and said that, despite an improvement in the final half an hour, United didn’t merit anything from the game.

“Yes, I think in the second half we huffed and puffed and we had a lot of chances to be fair,” said Maguire.

“We’ve got to stick the ball in the back of the net and like I say, when it goes 2-0, if we get the next goal, you can get that little bit of momentum like we saw at Sheffield United, but we weren’t good enough and we’ve got to improve.”

Watford 2 United 0

 Article

A day to forget for the Reds as Watford strike twice after the break to seal victory.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer stuck with the same starting XI that so impressively beat Manchester City two weekends ago, but the first-half showing at Vicarage Road was a far cry from our performance at the Etihad.

Maguire said we need to be better in possession and more clinical in the final third in future.

“I think there were just little sloppy errors on the ball really. We had control of the first half, no doubt about it,” the centre-back added.

“I don’t think they really threatened, we had control. But we didn’t play at a good-enough, high-enough tempo. We didn’t keep the ball in their half for long enough.

“Every time we kept it in their half, we’d give it away and they’d end up counter-attacking. So no, it’s disappointing to lose the game. We’ve got to do better.”

Watford’s opening goal, scored by Ismaila Sarr, was the result of a rare David De Gea error, as Sarr’s shot dropped into the net. 

De Gea could do nothing about Troy Deeney’s well-struck penalty for the Hornets' second, and Maguire was adamant that our no.1 would come back stronger from his unfortunate mistake.

"No, David’s a top keeper. I've only been here a few months but he's a world-class goalkeeper. We'll get round him.

“I'm sure on Boxing Day he'll be there and he'll probably pull off a good save to keep the clean sheet. But like I said, we’ll get round him. He’s a top, world-class goalkeeper so I'm sure he’ll move on."

Reading this in our app? If not, you might miss some exclusive features not found on ManUtd.com. Download the Official App here.

Recommended: