"The reason for another clean sheet is we were good in possession" - Erik ten Hag drops hint on how he views Manchester United star Harry Maguire in the defensive pecking order

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has dropped a hint as to why skipper Harry Maguire has fallen down the pecking order.

Prior to the start of the season, newly appointed Red Devils boss Ten Hag announced his decision to retain Maguire as the club captain. However, the England international has seen his gametime largely reduced in recent weeks and has been forced to watch from the sidelines.

Maguire started the first two games of Ten Hag's tenure at the heart of the defence against Brighton and Brentford respectively. Manchester United lost both games, and since then, Maguire has started just once more for the Red Devils.

The former Leicester City defender started in the Europa League against Real Sociedad, which once again ended in a 1-0 defeat.

Ten Hag reverted back to the defensive pairing of Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez against Sheriff Tiraspol in the Europa League on Thursday.

The decision paid off as Manchester United won the game 2-0, with Cristiano Ronaldo finally scoring his first goal of the season.

Erik ten Hag opened up on the impact of Raphael Varane following the game, hailing him as the leader who commanded his backline excellently.

Ten Hag also emphasized that the duo of Varane and Martinez complement each other really well.

He told MUTV, as quoted by The Mirror:

"The reason (for another clean sheet) is we were good in possession and we defended very well."

He added:

"With Rapha Varane there as the leader, he puts everyone in the right position, he fits really good together with Licha Martinez and also the two full-backs did their job really good."

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Harry Maguire will be concerned regarding his future at both Manchester United and England

Harry Maguire will be concerned about his future with both club and country. Since his £80 million move to Manchester United, the defender has made headlines for the wrong reasons more often than not. On top of that, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's decision to hand him the armband certainly did not help.

Varane and Martinez have done incredibly well as a defensive duo so far this season, and Maguire's journey back to the starting XI looks like quite a long one.

Meanwhile, Gareth Southgate's decision to name the struggling Manchester United defender in his latest England squad has not been welcomed at all.

If Maguire does not play more between now and the World Cup, his chances of making the England squad for the World Cup also seem to be on the wane.