Veteran Italian centre-back Leonardo Bonucci has lavished praise on fellow Manchester United and England international Harry Maguire.
The much-criticized Maguire fought his way back into Erik ten Hag’s first eleven after coming close to leaving the club. Maguire, 30, has started 15 games in all competitions and has a goal and an assist in 17. However, Maguire has not played for United in the last four league games due to a groin injury.
Bonucci praised Maguire’s mental strength given the criticism he has endured over the past few months (United District via SunSport):
“For me, Harry (Maguire) is an example of that. Despite all the whips and attacks he has received, he still plays for the #mufc and is a regular for England. It shows his mental strength. It shows.”
Maguire was also a first-team regular for Gareth Southgate’s England side, playing in all eight games of their successful UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers and helping them keep four clean sheets.
Overall, he played 62 games for the Three Lions, scoring seven goals and providing two assists. The 30-year-old has made 192 appearances for United since joining from Leicester City in the summer of 2019, scoring eight goals and providing six assists.
Manchester United manager: ‘Very disappointing result’ on defeat to Nottingham Forest
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag made no attempt to hide his disappointment at his team’s disastrous 2-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League in their final game of 2023.
The Red Devils were second best in the wide area of the City Ground. They had a fortuitous equalizer when a poor pass from Forest manager Matt Turner’s defense connected with Marcus Rashford to make it 1-1.
The tie lasted just a few minutes before Forest regained the lead and defeated United for the first time in the league for almost 30 years. Ten Hag analyzed the team’s performance and said (according to the Red Devils website):
“Obviously the result is very disappointing. I’m also disappointed with the performance before half-time. We should have invested more in moments like this.
“We created less before half-time, so we need to invest more there by playing faster and moving more. We weren’t good enough in the final third, we didn’t invest enough to create chances. ”
The Red Devils will return to action for their FA Cup opener against Wigan Athletic on January 8th.