Despite their up and down form throughout the course of the season, most Manchester United fans would have expected the club to take all three points when they came up against bottom-placed Burnley in the Premier League, away at Turf Moor. Just recently, the Red Devils had been knocked out of the FA Cup at the hands of Middlesbrough and they must have been keen to bounce back.
And in the first half, it looked like that was going to be the case as Manchester United put in a dominant display and it was a bit disappointing that they could go into the break with only a 1-0 lead.
They would end up conceding straight after the break though, with Jay Rodriguez scoring in the 47th minute to bring Burnley level at 1-1 and that’s how things ended, with the two sides sharing the points.
Rio Ferdinand pointed out Harry Maguire as someone who should have done better with the goal that Manchester United conceded. As reported by the Mirror, he told BT Sport:
"“This comes from Man United attacking. Two or three of them lying down, playing forward and running forward. It’s about feet, that bit of skill is beautiful, can it be prevented?”“There’s McTominay, he’s your protection, all he’s got to do, Maguire, is keep pushing him away, he hasn’t got to overcommit, as soon as he over commits, it’s a great piece of skill, this pass is sublime, if Kevin de Bruyne does that [Weghorst pass] we’ll all be going crazy.”"
He also added:
"“This touch across Maguire takes him completely out of it. I don’t think Maguire is quick enough to have got there to affect that situation once it got beyond him.”"
Could Maguire have done better with the goal that Manchester United gave away vs Burnley?
Defence has been a weakness for Manchester United for a long time now and Maguire is someone on whom the spotlight has been on constantly since he completed a huge move to Old Trafford from Leicester City.
He was very solid last season and one of Manchester United’s best players. But this time around, he has appeared to struggle to perform at the same level and questions have been raised about whether he should be dropped from the starting XI.
Of course, he is not the only defender who has underperformed this season, and there are doubts over the likes of Raphael Varane, Luke Shaw and Aaron Wan-Bissaka as well. Two out of those three started against Burnley.