Date published: Wednesday 10th February 2021 3:08 – Joe Williams
Manchester United captain Harry Maguire knows it is high time the club starts winning trophies again.
The Old Trafford giants are synonymous with success but have not won silverware since lifting the Europa League under Jose Mourinho in May 2017.
Successor Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – a man who knows a thing or two about collecting winners’ medals at United – has fallen just short so far, losing in four successive cup semi-final appearances.
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Carabao Cup exits bookended defeats in the FA Cup and Europa League semi-finals – competitions that this season continue to provide an avenue to glory that skipper Maguire is determined to grasp.
“Last season, it was disappointing to lose in the semi-finals like we did, but we’ve got to win trophies,” the United defender said.
“We’ve got to demand that of each other. We do.
“We demand that we win trophies and it’s vital the team starts winning trophies, for the club and the fans as well.”
United sealed their place in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday evening, when Scott McTominay’s snapshot sealed a hard-fought 1-0 extra-time win against West Ham.
“We got there in the end and I feel we deserved it,” Maguire said.
“We felt comfortable on the pitch, I felt in the first half we played with intensity and dominated the game, played the game in their half and had chances where we should be one, two, three (up). We just needed four for us (to score).”
United have beaten Watford, Liverpool and West Ham at an empty Old Trafford to reach next month’s quarter-finals, with the draw coming up on Thursday night.
“We love playing at this ground, and we’ve got to make it tough for people to come here and get results,” Maguire told MUTV.
“We need to get better and we seem to have improved a little of late. But no, obviously, we want a home game.
“We fancy our chances against anyone, we just need to look after ourselves, perform well and ensure that we start winning trophies at this club.”
United also remain second in the Premier League, albeit leaders Manchester City have built a five-point lead and have a game in hand.
Solskjaer’s men return to league action at West Brom on Sunday, while West Ham will be looking to return to winning ways against Sheffield United on Monday.
Ben Johnson, who came on at half-time, said the Old Trafford exit was “definitely a tough one to take” but is confident they can build on what has been a fine season for the east London club, who sit sixth in the standings.
“We’re doing really well this season,” the full-back told club media. “The dressing room we’ve got helps so much with the characters we have got in there.
“The players we have got are top, top players and I don’t think you realise the calibre of players we have – Dec (Rice) is a top international player, we brought in Tomas (Soucek), Vlad (Coufal), Daws (Craig Dawson) and Said (Benrahma).
“We have Michail (Antonio) playing up front, and Cressy (Aaron Cresswell) and Angelo (Ogbonna) are having top seasons, so we’ve got a lot of top players in our team.
“We go onto the next one on Monday. We bounced back from the Liverpool game against Villa, so we’re just looking for that reaction again.”