Bruno Fernandes flanked Ruben Amorim at his first Europa League press conference so Manchester United turned to their de facto second-in-command.

Harry Maguire was borderline persona non grata at the start of last season but, in the words of his fellow 30-something sat to his left on Wednesday, he is "a leader again" without the captain's armband.

Maguire is one of the few United players who has emerged from this blizzardy winter of discontent with any credit. The player choice for these press conferences can be telling, depending on the mood at United, and the club needed a senior starter to address one of the trickiest questions a United player has faced.

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It helped Maguire that the first question was addressed to Amorim, who happily offered added context to his seismic declaration on Sunday that this is possibly the worst team in United's history. Amorim claimed he expressed those sentiments in the dressing room before he walked through the corridors of the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand to publicly air his frustration.

Amorim spoke so loquaciously on the matter that he almost contradicted himself. He described his post-match conduct as a "mistake" and said "things that I shouldn't say". Yet he also doubled down on his apocalyptic billing of this United side, that it is better to be "blunt" than "delusional".

Maguire had his contract extended at Amorim's behest and is a first-teamer again. He was never going to rock the boat.

"As players, after the game we were really frustrated and disappointed," he conceded. "Coming off the back of a good away performance and beating Southampton, going into the game, we were confident and we felt we had the belief we could beat Brighton. But ultimately we didn’t perform well enough.

"We have to look at ourselves, we have to take responsibility on ourselves. As an individual, that’s what I do, I go home and think about how I can help this team improve and get back to where we want to get back to and that’s challenging a lot higher."

Maguire has recovered from being stripped of the captaincy and a transfer to West Ham collapsing to have a remarkable renaissance over the last 18 months. The 31-year-old donned the captain's armband for the first time since he lost it against Everton and Newcastle in December and United supporters gave him a rapturous ovation when he came off in the FA Cup third round triumph at Arsenal.

Although he appears to have thrived without the weight of the armband, Maguire is reluctant to pin his improved form on a decision by Erik ten Hag that he described as "extremely disappointing" at the time.

"I wouldn’t put it down to that, to be honest," Maguire remarked. "Whether I’m captain or not I do see myself as a leader in this group of players. I’m experienced now, I’ve been at the club over five years.

"I know in times when you play at this club there’s so many ups and downs and every game you lose there’s a lot of scrutiny on the players and players get targeted, that’s part and parcel of playing for this club. You’ve got to accept and take the responsibility on.

"I look at previous players - I spoke about this before - the likes of Wayne Rooney and David Beckham had a large amount of scrutiny on them and they were world-class players. If it can happen to them, it can happen to anybody and it’s part and parcel of playing for this club.

"Playing for this club is a huge privilege and a huge honour and I wouldn’t change it for anything."

Maguire was an ideal sounding board for Joshua Zirkzee after he was goaded and booed by thousands of United fans at Old Trafford following his 33rd-minute substitution against Newcastle. Six days later at Anfield, the away dayers sang Zirkzee's name for the first time and he has since performed influentially against Arsenal and Southampton. The Dutchman also received warm applause when he came off in the 3-1 defeat to Brighton.

United fans in Melbourne, Las Vegas and Dublin booed Maguire during back-to-back pre-season tours. Those matches were attended by non-regular matchgoers whereas Zirkzee was barracked by season-ticket holders. Maguire contacted Zirkzee hours after he was humiliatingly hooked against Newcastle.

"I sent him a message privately after the game," Maguire revealed. "Listen, Josh is a good player, you don’t play for this club if you’re not a good player. He’s got to bring that belief out and that confidence out in himself.

"I always say in football, there’s always another game, there’s always a next opportunity. With Josh coming on against Arsenal, he really changed the game for us and to score the winning penalty, it probably gave him the confidence and belief that he belongs at this club.

"The fans have been brilliant with him. We have amazing fans and they stick with us through thick and thin and when times are tough they really get behind us and support you."