Harry Maguire Sets High Standards for New Season
Harry Maguire has drawn a clear line in the sand for the new season: match – or better – the standard set since Michael Carrick walked through the door.
The 33-year-old defender, speaking to the club’s in-house media, pointed straight at the numbers. Since Carrick’s arrival, no one in the Premier League has collected more points. For Maguire, that isn’t a nice statistic to frame; it’s the baseline.
“If we can continue that momentum, that would be great. We had the most Premier League points since he joined, so that will be our aim this season,” he said, setting the tone for a campaign that will be judged on consistency as much as style.
New ideas, same demand
Maguire knows status quo won’t be enough. The work on the training pitch has shifted from simply stabilising to evolving.
“There will be new ideas and new ways of playing. There will be different tactics that the manager wants to see from us,” he explained. They weren’t bad last season – far from it. “We played well in a lot of games but could have played even better. We understand that as players.”
That admission matters. It speaks to a squad that recognises its improvement under Carrick but refuses to hide behind progress. Pre-season has been used to tighten the screws, not to bask in past form.
“We’ve been working hard on that during pre-season, and I think you are going to see a lot better performances from us this season.”
World Cup omission turns into a reset
Thomas Tuchel’s call to leave Maguire out of England’s World Cup squad stung at the time. It has quietly turned into a turning point.
Freed from the demands of a summer tournament, Maguire banked a full pre-season and then rode that fitness into the second half of the campaign. Under Carrick since the turn of the year, he has been a constant presence and a dominant one, winning more Premier League duels (44) than any of his team-mates.
The numbers underline it, but his own assessment focuses on the physical base that underpins those performances.
“I feel like you improve your fitness every week that goes by during pre-season. It’s been nice to go straight into a 60-minute game and be able to build myself up,” he said. “I am pleased with the way it’s gone. As a team, I think we’re in a really good position. We’re all fit and looking strong.”
The squad has thickened out again as the World Cup contingent has returned, and Maguire can feel the level rise.
“It’s great to have all the players back from the World Cup. It makes our squad even stronger and improves the competition for places and that is the way it should be at this club.”
Hull homecoming starts a brutal run
There will be no gentle easing into the new campaign. United open their Premier League season on 22 August away to newly-promoted Hull City – a fixture with a personal twist for Maguire, who once wore Hull colours.
Sentiment will last only until kick-off. United then walk straight into a demanding early schedule: Ipswich Town, Everton, Manchester City and Fulham all lie in wait before the September international break. Any early slip, and the table can turn hostile very quickly.
Maguire knows the pattern all too well. Start slowly in this league and you spend months chasing shadows.
“In the Premier League, you always want a good start. You don’t want to be playing catch-up in the Premier League because there are so many good teams,” he said. “There are no given games. When you play against anyone, you’ve got to go out there and fight for the three points because you know the following week it is going to be just as tough, and that is part and parcel of the Premier League.”
The message is blunt: the standard set under Carrick is now non-negotiable. The real question is whether this group can turn a points surge into a sustained title challenge, starting on a testing afternoon in Hull.
