"Indicative of his mental strength" - Italy international Leonardo Bonucci heaps praises on Manchester United superstar

Veteran Italy centre-back Leonardo Bonucci has lavished praise on his Manchester United and England counterpart Harry Maguire.

The much-criticised Maguire has fought his way back into Erik ten Hag's first XI after being on the cusp of leaving the club. The 30-year-old has a goal and an assist in 17 games across competitions, starting 15. Maguire hasn't played United's last four league games due to a groin injury, though.

Bonucci has hailed Maguire for his mental strength considering the criticism he has coped up over the last few months (Utd District via Sun Sports):

"For me, Harry (Maguire) is an example. After all the stick and attacks he’s received, he still plays at #mufc and is a regular for England. That’s indicative of his mental strength."

Maguire is also a first-team regular for Gareth Southgate's England side, playing all eight games of their successful UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers, helping keep four clean sheets.

Overall, he has seven goals and two assists in 62 games for The Three Lions. For United, the 30-year-old has eight goals and six assists in 192 games across competitions since arriving from Leicester City in the summer of 2019.

---

"The result is very disappointing" - Manchester United boss on Nottingham Forest defeat

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag made no effort to hide his disappointment as his side slumped to a 2-1 Premier League defeat at Nottingham Forest in their last game of 2023.

The Red Devils were second-best for large swathes at the City Ground. They had a fortuitous equaliser when Forest custodian Matt Turner's poor pass out of defence led to Marcus Rashford making it 1-1.

Parity lasted just a few minutes as Forest reclaimed their lead to beat United in the league for the first time in nearly three decades. Analysing his team's performance, Ten Hag said (as per the Red Devils' website):

"It's clear the result is very disappointing, I'm also disappointed by the performance before half-time. We should have invested more in such moments.

"We created less before half-time, and we should invest more there, by quicker play and by movements. In the final third, it was not good enough, and we did not invest enough to create chances."

The Red Devils return to action on January 8 at Wigan Athletic for their FA Cup opener.