Man Utd fans told to blame ‘recruitment system’ and not Maguire

Joe Williams
Man Utd defender Harry Maguire bites his lip

Jaap Stam has told any Man Utd supporters who aren’t “happy” with captain Harry Maguire to “look at the recruitment system”.

The Red Devils centre-back has faced a lot of criticism over the past few months with the players putting in a number of poor performances under both Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and interim boss Ralf Rangnick.

Former Man Utd midfielder Roy Keane has been particularly scathing recently, calling Maguire a “disgrace” back in November and accused him of talking “rubbish” about the players sticking together.


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But former Man Utd centre-back Stam thought Maguire was a “decent player” at Leicester City and has pointed to United’s poor “recruitment system” for spending over the odds on the former Sheffield United defender.

Stam told The Michael Anthony Show: “It’s a lot of money they paid for him [Maguire]. To be honest when I saw him at Leicester City he was a decent player.”

He added: “If nobody is happy with Harry and how he is playing and performing, they should look at the recruitment system.

“Look at who made the decision to bring him in and how decided to pay that much for a player we really don’t fancy or a player we really don’t like.”

Despite only losing once since the appointment of Rangnick until the end of the season, Man Utd have been turning in poor performances under the German,

And Stam reckons they lack the aggression and resilience he used to see from Man Utd teams of the past.

Stam continued: “I follow them. I try to watch all of the games and see how they are doing and how they are performing.

“I also try to keep track of all the results. As I went into management, I look at United in how they are playing, the players they are bringing in and the philosophy of playing and the style of play.

“I also look a whether they are they dominant, whether they are keeping possession of the ball, whether they are playing forwards quickly and whether they pressing high up the pitch, being very aggressive and very resilient.

“But when you look at this United team you don’t always see that. That’s hard to understand. It’s one of the biggest clubs in the world. Everyone should be proud they are a player that gets the opportunity to play for them.”