Exclusive: Harry Maguire reveals 'most frustrating thing' about Manchester United's dismal season

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Harry Maguire has made it clear that Manchester United need to find consistency on the pitch – and especially while playing at Old Trafford – and targets their UEFA Europa League clash with Rangers on Thursday as the perfect opportunity to swing momentum back their way. Ruben Amorim's side have lost four of their last five home games in the Premier League following a 3-1 loss to Brighton.

'I was talking about me' - Amorim clarifies 'worst Man Utd team' comments

Video credit: SNTV

Manchester United return to UEFA Europa League action against Rangers as two of the biggest clubs in Britain collide for the first time in European football since 2010.

United's form was seemingly on the upswing after claiming a 2-2 draw at Anfield against Liverpool and beating Arsenal on penalties in the FA Cup.

But a dismal display against bottom-of-the-league Southampton, saved only by Amad Diallo's hat-trick, and an even worse performance in a 3-1 loss to Brighton, led to Ruben Amorim branding his side as "maybe the worst" in the club's history.

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Harry Maguire, who has played under three full-time managers in his United tenure, and another three interim and caretaker managers, believes consistency is at the core of the issue this season.

"I think that's the most frustrating thing," Maguire told TNT Sports. "I think that's probably what's annoying the manager the most.

"We know we can produce high-level performances as we've proved this season, but we're just not doing it on a consistent basis, especially at Old Trafford where we're not performing as well as we can do. We know that."

United will take some solace in knowing they are unbeaten at home in the Europa League this season. They have the chance to swing momentum back in their favour when they welcome Rangers to Old Trafford on Thursday – live on TNT Sports and discovery+.

Maguire continued: "I don't know whether it's the pressure of playing at home in front of our crowd and us having to be on the front foot and to create the chances and score the goals.

"But if we want to be a success as a club, we've got to improve our own record and yeah, it can start tomorrow."

Following the Brighton defeat, Amorim was adamant that he would not change his view of the game, even apologising to fans for their future suffering.

'Maybe I need to calm down' - Amorim regrets damning 'worst team' assessment

Video credit: TNT Sports

The manager added that his entire side is currently under-performing as he sought to challenge his players to improve.

With positional indiscipline and nervousness clear to see, it is evident that the players are taking their time to adapt to Amorim's way of playing.

"He's obviously brought a new system, a different philosophy to the club," the defender said.

"He has great demands on what he wants, and we had a way of play for two to three years under Erik and yeah, it's different.

"But at the end of the day, it's 11 players going on the pitch, and you've got to go and perform and perform individually and then that helps the team to get results. And I don't really like looking at it as an excuse because we've gone from system to system.

"We've got to take the responsibility on, and we've got to improve ourselves."

‘Worst team maybe in history of Man Utd’ – Amorim reacts to ‘unacceptable’ Brighton defeat

Video credit: SNTV

As consistency on the pitch eludes them while the players adjust to Amorim's philosophy, Maguire admits that certain individuals will lack confidence until results trend upwards.

"When you win football matches, it brings confidence to the team and at the moment we're not doing that.

"There probably are players who lack confidence individually and lack a little bit of belief within the team. But that's part and parcel of being a footballer. You don't go through a football career and not have that little bit of confidence knocked out of you or as a team.

"The only thing you can do is come into training, prepare as well as you can, work as hard as you can and go to the pitch and give everything, and no one can ask for any more."

When is Manchester United v Rangers?

Manchester United will host Rangers at Old Trafford on Thursday, January 23.

Kick-off is 20:00 UK time, with live coverage on TNT Sports 1 and TNT Sports Ultimate commencing at 19:00.

How to watch UEFA Europa League on TNT Sports and discovery+

TNT Sports is available across all major TV platforms, offering a line-up of up to four TV channels (TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports 2, TNT Sports 3, TNT Sports 4), and up to six digital or red-button channels (TNT Sports 5 to 10), and TNT Sports Ultimate plus TNT Sports Box Office HD.

You can subscribe to TNT Sports through discovery+, BT, EE, Sky, and Virgin Media. To find out where your local establishments showing TNT Sports are, use our Pub Finder Tool.

TNT Sports will show over 500 matches from the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Conference League across the 2024-25 season. The streaming home for TNT Sports in the UK is discovery+, where fans can enjoy a subscription that includes TNT Sports, Eurosport and entertainment in one destination.

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