Manchester United recently drew with Liverpool and secured a victory over Arsenal. Head coach Ruben Amorim singled out Harry Maguire for his impressive performances.

Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim says deposed captain Harry Maguire is “a leader again”.

Maguire has turned into one of Amorim’s key men, taking up the central role in the former Sporting boss’ defensive back three. He was outstanding in the FA Cup win at Arsenal at the weekend even though he had missed training because of illness in the build-up.

Ruben Amorim has highly praised Harry Maguire.

“I feel that he has become a leader again. He feels like a more important player in the team. He has a lot of self-belief and is doing great” – said Amorim.

“You can see the way he plays now is different because he believes a lot in himself. We should praise Harry more than me. He was sick before the last match and dead at the end. That’s what I want from every player” – said the head coach of Manchester United.

Although he is right-footed, Solskjaer used Maguire on the left of his central defence.

Ten Hag switched Maguire to the right because he didn’t feel he was quick enough opening his body out to create space through his passing on the left-hand side.

Amorim feels the central position Maguire has now is perfect.

“He’s really good with the ball in that position” – he said.

Read: Manchester United are ready with a bid for a star goalkeeper who rejected them under Erik ten Hag

Amorim has started Maguire in United’s past five matches and tweaked the England international’s positioning. Maguire has often played on the left of a back three but, with Lisandro Martinez a left-footer, Maguire has occupied the middle with Matthijs de Ligt or Yoro on the right.

“I think he can do both (play in a back three and a back four). It’s really good for him, not just without the ball but with the ball” – Amorim explained.

“He’s always in the centre. He’s not on the left side or the right side. I think he’s really good with the ball in that position. In the future he will have more space to cover because we will not play with four in the back. We will play with three in the back.”

“But in this moment, with a lot of crosses, you can see it when we are defending more low. Arsenal did a lot of crosses with Harry. We control that area. It’s really important. Set pieces are really important for us. You can see in this league it’s really important to be good in set pieces.”

“I think the system is really good for Harry. But like I said, the most important thing is Harry. He feels more like an important player in the team. And as a leader. I feel that he’s a leader again. So it’s really important for us.”

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