Harry Maguire has said Manchester United’s players feel they owe the fans a trophy to repay their faith during a miserable season in the Premier League.
United are set to finish in the bottom half the table for the first time since 1990, but their league form is in stark contrast to the results in the Europa League.
And after a stunning 3-0 win over Athletic Club in Spain on Thursday, Maguire and his teammates are on the brink of reaching a major European final.
“It wouldn’t save the season because I think it’s been disappointing,” Maguire said. “There’s been too many games that we’ve lost, far too inconsistent.
“It’s been a difficult season. It’s been a disappointing season but of course football is about memories, it’s about creating memories, it’s about winning trophies and we have a great opportunity to win a trophy.
“For our fans, it’s what they deserve, so that’s the most important thing.”
United manager Ruben Amorim has won seven of his nine Europa League games in charge of United, but only six of his 23 games in the Premier League.
The Portuguese coach has shouldered much of the blame for the poor league form himself following his appointment in November.
But Maguire has pointed the finger at the players and said they couldn’t cope with the mid-season switch from Erik ten Hag to Amorim.
“It’s been a bit of a mess in the middle of the season,” he said.
“The transition period, we didn’t handle it well enough, us players.
“We didn’t take the responsibility well enough from moving manager to manager and we took too long in embedding into new ideas.”
Following the shock result in Bilbao, United are heavy favourites to book a place in the final ahead of the semifinal second leg against Athletic Club next week.
Immediately after the game, Amorim insisted his players still have work to do at Old Trafford.
And his comments were echoed by Maguire, particularly after the rollercoaster quarterfinal victory over Lyon still fresh in the memory.
“Still a long way to go,” he said. “I think we’ve still got a job to do in the second leg of the tie.
“We know that they could score first, but we’ve got to remain calm. We’ve got a lot of senior players who need to step up in their moments.
“We have senior players who need to handle these moments really well. And like I said, we’ll be going into next Thursday and trying to get the win and moving to the final.”
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