Manchester United captain Harry Maguire said he is looking to the future and is determined to put behind him a "disappointing year" by leading the club back into trophy contention.
As the world's most expensive defender and captain at one of football's biggest clubs, Maguire and his performances were pored over in great detail during a chastening campaign for all connected to United, leading to questions about his future not only as captain but his place in the team.
But new United manager Erik ten Hag backed the £80 million centre-back when confirming he would retain the captain’s armband and the 29-year-old England international is driven to kick on.
“Listen, last year was disappointing,” Maguire said. “As an individual I didn’t play well and as team we certainly didn’t play well.
“But a good career can last 10 to 15 years and you’re never going to have every year where it’s plain sailing and you don’t have any difficulties. You’re going to have to fight, you’re going to have setbacks and last year was certainly a setback for myself on my career path.
“But it’s behind us now and we look forward to the future and getting this club back to winning trophies, which is what it’s all about.”
Maguire was speaking at a fan event in Melbourne during United’s pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia.
Ten Hag has so far overseen victories against Liverpool and Melbourne Victory, with friendlies against Crystal Palace at the MCG and Aston Villa in Perth still to come.
The demanding Dutchman’s fingerprints have been visible in the performances to date and his work at the club has impressed the squad.
“It’s been tough,” Maguire said. “The running has been hard but we’re really looking forward to the season.
“Everyone – the players, the club – know last year was nowhere near good enough but it’s a fresh start and we’ve got a big season ahead.
“Erik and his coaching staff are bringing their ideas and the first two games you’ve seen little glimpses of the principals.
“We’re working towards being ready for that first Premier League game, that’s what matters. Everything we’re doing now is building for that first game.”
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Name: Steppi
Founders: Joe Franklin and Milos Savic
Launched: February 2020
Size: 10,000 users by the end of July and a goal of 200,000 users by the end of the year
Employees: Five
Based: Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai
Financing stage: Two seed rounds – the first sourced from angel investors and the founders' personal savings
Second round raised Dh720,000 from silent investors in June this year
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The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.
"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."
Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.
"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.
As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general.
