Maguire's assessment of the opening day
Manchester United captain Harry Maguire spoke to Sky Sports following our 2-1 defeat by Brighton & Hove Albion at Old Trafford on Sunday, voicing his displeasure at beginning the 2022/23 Premier League season with a loss.
Two first-half goals by Pascal Gross gave Graham Potter’s side a strong lead going into the second period and, despite United forcing a second-half own-goal from the Seagulls, the Reds could not overturn the scoreline.
Reacting to the result, Maguire outlined his obvious frustration at the outcome.
“The result is disappointing,” he said. “It's the worst possible start, to be 2-0 down at half-time at Old Trafford.
“It's not good enough and we huffed and puffed to get one back and we had chances to equalise. It's a bad start for us.”
🗣️ "It was a nightmare start"
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 7, 2022
Harry Maguire reacts to Man Utd's opening weekend defeat to Brighton... pic.twitter.com/E3oXxdk3ps
Our skipper elaborated, sharing his belief that conceding the first goal was a setback the Reds should have dealt with better.
“I think we actually started the game pretty well,” he said. “We started on the front foot against a team who try to control the game and we conceded the first goal, which knocked us back really bad.
“We stopped playing from then and they got a lot of control in the game, so we need to look at not letting that first goal knock us back as much as it did.”
While he feels that the Reds could improve defensively, Maguire also feels that United need to retain possession better to avoid teams growing in confidence, as Brighton did.
“We have to be better on the ball,” he said. “We gave the ball away far too much after the first goal and we gave them encouragement to come forward and attack us."