How Man Utd captain Maguire reacted to Solskjaer's sacking

Martin Macdonald

• Updated: 23 May 2023 08:54 CDT
• 3 min read

Manchester United captain Harry Maguire insists the players at the club need to shoulder plenty of blame for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer being sacked.

The Red Devils are going through a torrid time in the Premier League, winning just one out of their last seven matches in the top flight.

In three of their last four, they were embarrassed 5-0 at home by Liverpool, humbled 2-0 by Manchester City, and then easily defeated 4-1 by promoted Watford.

The Watford result made Solskjaer's position untenable and Man Utd announced his dismissal the day after.

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Maguire is one of the players who has come under the most criticism as he has endured a shocking campaign so far, and in that match against the Hornets he was sent off for a pair of hapless bookings.

Speaking ahead of Man Utd's Champions League clash against Villarreal, he says the players need to look at themselves and recognise what went wrong.

“We were in this together, the manager paid the price but we take responsibility," he admitted.

"We weren’t good enough and we need to make sure we get this club back to where we want it to be.

“As a group of players, we are in it together, a good group of lads who want to succeed who are giving it everything. The results aren’t what we want them to be. We take a huge amount of responsibility for that.

“Ole is a legend of the club and will remain so. It was an emotional day.

“We know it’s not been good enough, individually or collectively. It’s snowballed from one thing to the other.

"We have to find something in ourselves [to change that].”

Carrick to take temporary charge

When Man Utd announced Solskjaer's exit, the club confirmed that Michael Carrick would be put in temporary charge.

When asked how long he would be in place, Carrick simply said it would be as long as he is needed.

“I haven’t had time to think. I’ll be here as long as the club wants me to be here. We will have to wait and see," he told reporters.

“I’m prepared to do it for however long it takes – whether it’s one game, two games.

“Right now I’m not sure but I’m not thinking about that, it’s about tomorrow.”