Maguire accepts players must take blame, Carrick has 'clear plans' for United 

Michael Carrick has been placed in charge of Man United while the club searches for someone to fill the role until the end of the season

File photo dated 25-09-2019 of Michael Carrick, Carrick is the next former player taking temporary charge of Manchester United after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked. Issue date: Monday November 22, 2021.

HARRY Maguire insists the Manchester United players must shoulder responsibility for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s departure after the manager was dismissed on Sunday, and admitted the club’s current plight marked a low point for a number of his colleagues.

Michael Carrick has been placed in charge of the side while the club searches for someone to fill the role until the end of the season, starting with Tuesday Champions League visit to Villarreal. Speaking ahead of the trip to Spain, Carrick and Maguire, the United captain, expressed their disappointed at Solskjaer’s departure but both conceded results had not been good enough.

Saturday’s 4-1 defeat at Watford proved to be the final straw and Maguire, who revealed Solskjaer addressed the squad at the club’s training ground on Sunday, acknowledged the onus was on the players to turn the season around.

“I think in football you go through ups and downs, you look at the players now at this club and you would probably speak to them and they would say it’s the toughest time of their career at club level, so we know it hasn’t been good enough,” said the centre-back.

“The recent performances haven’t been good enough, we haven’t been delivering individually or collectively, and when you are not doing it collectively the results pay the price and it has snowballed from one thing to another and we have to take huge responsibility for that and we have to find something within ourselves, within the group to find the focus and the mentality to get the result we need for this club.” 

He added: “The result on Saturday, it wasn’t good enough but the results of late have ultimately not been good enough and it’s a results business. Unfortunately Ole has paid the price for that and obviously we have got to take a big part of the responsibility for that as well.

“The manager came in and spoke to us (on Sunday). It was an emotional day. Everyone has a huge amount of respect for Ole and what he has done for the club. He is a legend of the club and will remain a legend of the club. 

"I don’t want to go into too much depth about what he said but he wished us well. He said we need to get back on track, and get focused on this game against Villarreal and go into it in a positive mindset and one thing he did say was that he would be supporting us and wants us to win every game which shows the values of the man.” 

Carrick confirmed he was asked to take charge of the side by Ed Woodward, the executive vice-chairman, when he arrived at the Carrington training base on Sunday and following an emotional 24 hours, insisted his focus was now fully on Villarreal.

“It was a sad day initially for me, and I wish Ole all the best,” said Carrick. “But on the flipside football is football and it’s business as usual today and we have a game to prepare for tomorrow and it’s a privilege for me to now sit in this position. I understand the responsibility that comes with that and now the focus is on moving forward quickly, it’s something that this club does very well, it’s what this club has done very well historically and now we are very much looking forward to the game tomorrow and going there with a real positive mind and attitude.” 

He added: “I have clear plans in my own mind of what we want to do and how we want to go about it and I'm looking forward to seeing it on the pitch. It’s a challenge, of course it is. The initial reaction yesterday, coming to terms with the situation, but quite quickly you have to focus. There's a responsibility here. I don't take that lightly in any way. I'm just throwing myself into doing everything I can.

"Of course it's a limited time but it's a challenge I'm relishing at the moment. It's a huge responsibility but I'm really looking forward to it. I know it's not what we wanted but it's a fantastic group - they've proved that before and they'll prove it again.”