Harry Maguire is not treating Manchester United's late-season improvement under Michael Carrick as finished business. He wants it used as the base for a sharper campaign, and he said United need a faster Premier League start as well as better performances across the board.

Carrick's run gave United a platform

Maguire's own numbers back up the feeling that the side found something useful after Carrick took charge in January. Manchester United won 12 Premier League matches and scored 33 goals since then, more than any other top-flight team in that span.

He was part of that rise too. Maguire won 44 Premier League duels since Carrick's appointment, more than any of his team-mates, and his last five Premier League ratings averaged 7.22.

The centre-back's quotes to goal.com were direct about what comes next. "If we can continue that momentum, that would be great," he said. "We had the most Premier League points since he joined, so that will be our aim this season."

United's opening test at Hull City

Maguire was just as clear about the danger of starting slowly. "In the Premier League, you always want a good start," he said. "You don't want to be playing catch-up in the Premier League because there are so many good teams."

United open their Premier League campaign away to Hull City on August 22, which gives the message a simple edge. The performance level has to travel from pre-season into competitive games quickly, and Maguire said the squad have been working on new ideas and new ways of playing.

He also pointed to the feeling inside the group that last season's good spells were not the ceiling. United collected 10 points across their last five Premier League matches, and Maguire said: "We played well in a lot of games but could have played even better."

That is the part worth stressing. This is not a player talking up momentum for the sake of it, it is a senior defender asking for a higher standard after a strong end to the last campaign. The first check on that comes at Hull on 22 August, when United begin again with a result that will say plenty about how well the Carrick period has carried over.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →