Suddenly, it feels great to be Harry Maguire again. He bowled into St George’s Park for England duty with a bar chart packed with stats from Saturday’s conquest of Brentford that demonstrate his value, and which makes awkward reading for Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag.
As well as providing the assist for Scott McTominay’s winner against Brentford, Maguire was notable as a ball carrier, long striding out of defence to initiate attacks. He had 69 touches, the fourth highest of any United player, and ranked third in the number of passes made, 63, of which 88.9 per cent were successful.
Whilst the numbers shine a positive light on Maguire, they paint a grim picture of United’s midfield, which Ten Hag has failed to reconstruct despite the additions of Casemiro, Christian Eriksen, Mason Mount, Sofyan Amrabat and the now departed Marcel Sabitzer. Presumably, none of Yves Bissouma, Youri Tielemans, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Sandro Tonali, Declan Rice nor Matheus Nunes, all high-end midfielders who have found new homes in the Premier League during Ten Hag’s reign, fancied United. Or had never previously played under him.
Though Ten Hag has never been less than civilised in his appraisal of Maguire’s character and attributes, neither have been sufficient to win his trust. Maguire ultimately carried the can for the unravelling under Ralf Rangnick. He was an easy target in a defence fearfully exposed by the collective failures of a dysfunctional team, central to which was a midfield populated by Fred and Saturday’s hero McTominay.
Ten Hag effectively accepted Maguire’s culpability. The additions last term of Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane relegated him to the bench. The removal of the captaincy this season completed the downgrade.
No footballer is immune to criticism or even ridicule, yet there was something in the terrace treatment of Maguire that was gratuitous and grew into bullying on an industrial scale. It reached its apotheosis in England’s fixture against Scotland at Hampden Park last month when he was lampooned by both sets of supporters.
Maguire made his first Premier League start of the season against Brentford. Before that he made two substitute appearances totalling 26 minutes. Whatever his perceived failings, he cannot be held responsible for United’s shocking decline this season. Had he played behind Manchester City’s midfield, or Arsenal’s in the past two years, he might have been an ever-present. Perhaps that is why he continues to flourish with England.
Maguire has never been the quickest, but he has good feet, a good pass, is decent in the air and reads the game well, the very qualities that persuaded United to pay Leicester £80m four years ago, and that propped up United on Saturday. What he lost under Rangnick was confidence. The assassination of his reputation that followed was entirely unwarranted and brutally damaging. Yet despite it all he kept his own counsel. There was no denouncing of Ten Hag or the teammates that fell apart around him.
There is a steely quality about Maguire little recognised, a feature that allowed him to play on following his deeply unsatisfactory brush with the Greek criminal justice system three years ago. Maguire was convicted of assault, resisting arrest and attempted bribery after a fracas on the island of Mykonos. He successfully protested the summary nature of his “trial” and saw those convictions quashed. A new trial was ordered, the date for which was finally agreed in June.
Maguire’s case will be heard in February next year. It might feel eerily familiar since his career has been on trial since Ten Hag arrived. Perhaps the Brentford fixture felt like a day in court, proving to Ten Hag that Maguire was never the problem all along.
It is admittedly a small sample but nevertheless asks pertinent questions of Ten Hag, whose qualities as coach are coming under greater scrutiny, notwithstanding Saturday’s victory. There is still no identifiable method or style of play that you would associate with United. The ball does not move quickly enough through the phases and there remains nil cohesion in midfield, which contributes to a faltering attack and a shaky defence.
As well as the attacking trio demonstrated against Brentford, Maguire did his job defensively, ranking highest for interceptions and recoveries, and winning all his aerial duals. The vindication he must feel is justified. It is now for Ten Hag to prove himself a coach worthy of the post he holds. Since he has barely played it is plain Maguire is not responsible for United’s current predicament. The same cannot be said of his manager.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/man-utd-worse-dropping-harry-maguire-2677492
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