Louis Saha Exclusive: Treatment of Maguire lacks respect and dignity

Louis Saha spoke to BettingOdds.com this week. The ex-United forward came to the defence of Harry Maguire and labelled his recent treatment as disgusting. He also spoke about Andre Onana's struggling start to life at Manchester United, as well as Casemiro's concerning form, United missing out on Harry Kane, Rasmus Hojlund's start to life at Old Trafford and the situation with Jadon Sancho.

"Reaction to United Burnley game"

“It was a professional performance from Manchester United. Everything that we hoped was clicking isn’t yet being shown and you could see that against Burnley. There was one moment of brilliance from Bruno so I’m still a bit frustrated to be honest, but it was a big win for the manager. The players know that they have to step up and be better, I’m not sure what needs to be done but there needs to be stuff to work on in training.”

"Is ten Hag in trouble of losing his job if poor performances continue?"

No, I don't think that’s a possibility for me. There is a foundation at the squad regardless of recent performances. I still don’t think they’ve clicked defensively and the chances they’re creating aren’t real chances. It’s not as dynamic at the moment and you don’t expect that coming from last season but there’s still a foundation and the quality of players is still there.

Overall there’s a lack of energy and connection with the players so I think the manager needs to fix that but I don’t think he’s doing enough wrong for the board to reconsider. It’s not that radical.

"A lot of pundits are blaming the Glazers for poor performances, but should the manager and players take accountability too?"

Everyone with a contract at the club should be held accountable. The owners have a responsibility at the club and one decision they make will get down through all the layers at the club so maybe the players could be affected. Maybe the manager didn’t get the transfers he wanted, there will always be questions because of the distraction they bring. That’s the issue they bring on themselves, it’s their responsibility, it’s not just the last couple of months that stuff has been going on with the Glazers, it’s been years.

The players of course and the manager are the ones that have to take responsibility, they are the ones on the field, and they’re making mistakes and not playing the way we’re used to. It’s all about the team spirit. This is all followed by stuff we don’t want to see like the Sancho incident and the stuff going on with Antony. 

"Do you think Casemiro’s form is a concern?"

It’s a concern, we speak about Casemiro because of how good he was last year and how big his impact was, these are the players that are powerful and aggressive and at the moment, it’s not there. I think technically stuff has dropped at Manchester United and that’s not just for Casemiro. The team doesn’t link together at the moment and the midfield is at the heart of that. I think it’s unfair that Casemiro is the only one being targeted, for me it’s the whole midfield. 

We have Bruno out wide now and it’s not working, it’s easy to pick one player and focus on that. Casemiro hasn’t been at his best but the other day he scored two goals against Bayern Munich. It’s not easy and I’m not going to just pick on one player, I think it’s an issue with the team at the moment. Sometimes it is one player but I think the whole team is below average and it’s not working at the moment. 

"How important do you think Amrabat will be once he returns to the side?"

He will help the midfield, he’s been brought in for that. The midfield needs some competition so none of them are feeling comfortable and guaranteeing their places. There are players like McTominay wanting to play. We’re all excited to see Amrabat come in and really see him impose his physicality on the pitch, I have confidence that he can bring something going forward as well. There are elements in the midfield where we are searching for a link between the players, last year it was Casemiro and it could be Amrabat this year. 

The advantage that United had last year in the midfield is not there anymore, there is a lack of chemistry between the players and it’s all very predictable now, United’s midfield is either being matched or dominated in every game. You saw against Burnley the other day, I don’t think they’re near the level of Man Utd but it was hard to tell the difference between the sides. I am sure that the manager will try to find the success they had last season.

"Onana has struggled so far for United - do you think they regret replacing De Gea with him?"

No, they won’t regret it, you have to move forwards. The problem is with the goalkeeper position every time you make a mistake, it’s not going to be great. There is a different style of play with Onana in the team now and they’re still adapting. Sometimes you create space for the midfielder, sometimes you need to slow the play down. 

There are moments where he is on his line too much or too forward, but he is just adapting to the new club he is at, he needs time. Whatever David provided over the years, he made mistakes as well, people make mistakes. I’m sure he has the mentality to bounce straight back and he had a decent performance against Burnley, he didn’t concede and that will do wonders for his confidence. 

He did an interview after the Bayern game and he doesn’t hide from it, so you can see he has the mentality for it. I feel like sometimes he’s delaying going forward too much when the ball is at his feet, I feel like he just needs to be a bit quicker in his delivery.
 

"Seeing Harry Kane score against United must have been sad for you considering how much you wanted him to sign - do you think they are regretting that decision now?"

It seems as if Harry Kane didn’t want to sign for Manchester United and if he didn’t want to sign, there’s nothing they could have done. It’s frustrating to miss out on Kane and see him playing for Bayern and he would have been the perfect fit at United, but you have to move on.

"What do you make of Hojlund’s start for United so far?"

Hojlund’s had a good start. He will need to keep adapting to the Premier League but he’s very strong and quick and he will start to finish his chances soon I’m sure. This boy has great potential and the profile to really help this team. He’s aggressive, powerful, makes good runs and he’s quick. He just needs to gain an understanding with his teammates I’m confident he will be a valuable asset for United. I’m very excited about him and I think he’s a great signing.

"Do you think it’s fair for ten Hag to have completely removed Jadon Sancho from the first team squad?"

I’m not at the training ground so I can’t comment on whether it was fair or not. There’s been a lot of distractions at United in recent years from Pogba to Ronaldo and this is the newest one. The team needs focus and confidence and what I’m seeing right now is both the players and the manager don’t have either at the moment. It may have to be that they wait until January and then Sancho has to leave, it’s a difficult situation and it’s a shame because he’s a great player and they could use someone with that kind of ability out wide right now.

"Can Pellistri and Garnacho adequately fill in for Antony and Sancho?"

Pellistri and Garnacho are good enough to play for United but they don’t have enough experience yet. The potential alone is not enough when the team needs consistent performers at the moment though and United are relying too heavily on Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford. If Garnacho and Pellistri can find that consistency United will be on to something very good.

"Thought’s on Reguilon’s form in his first few games? Seems to be a bright spot for United"

Reguilon has started very well, he’s been dedicated going forward and doing his job defensively. My major concern is that he has been the one shining light in this United side in recent weeks. It’s a symbol that something is wrong at United, but respect to Reguilon, he’s working hard for the team, playing with energy and aggressiveness. His teammates could learn from him and follow his lead. 

"Ole Gunnar Solskjaer spoke to the Athletic last week, saying signing Ronaldo “was a decision that was very difficult to turn down and I felt we had to take it, but it turned out wrong.” - What are your thoughts on this?"

I completely agree that United had to sign Cristiano Ronaldo because he is a huge player and a club legend. In that first year, he proved that by scoring goals but it was a mistake to feel that he could fix everything that was wrong at the club and it became a huge problem. Cristiano now has taken all the burden and got a lot of unfair comments, but Solskjaer is right, it didn’t work out in the end and it got to a point where he had to leave Manchester United. It was a gamble, and it was great to see him come back to Old Trafford and sometimes things don’t work out in the end, that’s life. 

"Both Solskjaer and England manager Gareth Southgate have come out in defence of Harry Maguire and said he’s been treated unfairly by the press - do you agree?"

Yes he has been unfairly treated. I have never seen a player in the world treated this way. Maybe people thought it was funny at first, but now it’s got a point where they lack respect and dignity, they’re just being mean at this point. People think this is normal in our era. You have no reason to be this way, it’s really bad. It’s nice to see that people playing the game have come to his defence. 

For those that don’t play, the media, they don’t know it’s hard. Yes he has made mistakes, but all these people hiding behind the media are disgusting, I don’t like it. Maguire hasn’t hid from this at all and he still wants to play and he still wants to lead, so massive credit to him and it’s fair of Ole and Gareth to come to his defence. When called upon he still puts in a good performance so people need to look at themselves.

"What were your thoughts on the North London Derby?"

It was very entertaining. I don’t think many was expecting this level of intensity and quality in this game, the technique on display was at the highest level. It was great to see, especially in a derby. 

I said previously in an interview that Ange was in a difficult situation after losing Harry Kane and there’s always pressure on the Tottenham manager. And he’s done brilliantly to respond to all of this. It’s very interesting to see Tottenham bring even more intensity since getting rid of Harry Kane. I want to see if they can maintain this throughout the whole season, they will be a big threat to any team. 

I still think there’s a gap between them in City but who knows, I haven’t seen Manchester United showing this or Chelsea, so it’s great to see.