Manchester United defender Harry Maguire has made a painfully honest admission about why he and his teammates struggled under Ruben Amorim last term.
Amorim’s tough start to life at United
When Amorim was appointed to replace Erik ten Hag in November last year, it was hoped that he would oversee a change in fortunes at Old Trafford and set the team on a run of positive performances and results.
However, the opposite was mostly the case. In fact, it can be argued that things got much worse, with United unable to buy a win, especially in the Premier League.
United were frequently outplayed by their rivals, who outperformed them in both home and away matches. The team ended the 2024/25 season in a disappointing 15th position, with a total of 18 top-flight losses.
There was even more heartbreak in store for the Red Devils at the end of the campaign as they suffered a 1-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League final, blowing their only chance at sneaking into the Champions League through the back door. United will therefore not have European football next season.
However, the arrivals of Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha, and Benjamin Sesko have sparked fresh optimism that 2025/26 will be more fruitful.
Maguire spoke to club legend Rio Ferdinand on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast and insisted that they are determined not to repeat the mistakes of last term.
The England international also revealed what exactly went wrong behind the scenes.
Maguire makes shocking revelation about last season
Maguire observed that the squad’s lack of physicality and fitness hampered the early stages of Amorim’s reign.
“I feel like it’s almost a little bit of a fresh start and hopefully this start is a good start. We want to find it. We want to be challenging at the top.”
“We have a lot of talent in the squad obviously we’ve brought in Matheus and Bryan, who look really well and I know they’re going to improve us massively. And it’s really good that now we’ve had a full pre-season to work under this manager.”
“I think he spoke about it a lot last season that we just didn’t have a chance to train. And I think, to be honest, when he first took over, I think the physicality of our squad wasn’t good enough for the Premier League. We couldn’t run hard enough. We didn’t win enough duels.”
Maguire continued, “I think he’s realised that now we’ve got a full pre-season and I think the lads are looking a lot more leaner and sharper. And I think it’s now good competition for places and I’m sure they’ll bring in a couple more. But yeah, it’s looking a lot more brighter.”
“I think last year we didn’t swing across enough quick enough, probably to do with, like I said, our physical fitness. Our running power wasn’t good enough in the Premier League.”
“So I think this season you’ll see a lot more swinging across, playing not just with the back five, four. I think we’ll be a lot of the back three along the back line. Enabling us to jump and get high pressure on the ball. He obviously wants us to build up, but take no risks.”
“I think last season we played a lot of short passes, building up in our own third. I think one of the most in the Premier League, if not the most. But I think we give it away the most as well in our own third. So it’s something that we do need to look at and improve on. But yeah, it’s all guided to help the team. He’s really pragmatic. I think everyone gets drawn into thinking that we’re a back five and we’re a back three. If you actually watch and analyse our games, we’re playing a back four a lot of the time.”
“I think people can get drawn into the formation and why is he not changing and why is he not doing this? But there’s many times in games where we’re a back three or a back four or a back five.”
United are back in action on Sunday when they take on Arsenal at Old Trafford in their 2025/26 Premier League season opener. The game kicks off at 16:30 BST.
Featured image Justin Setterfield via Getty Images
Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social
Derick Kinoti
Derick Kinoti is a football writer at The Peoples Person who has covered Manchester United and the game extensively for many years. He is a keen analyst with expertise in SEO and journalism standards. Derick is convinced Wayne Rooney is the true GOAT and won’t hear otherwise!
