Renaissance man Maguire reaps reward of self-belief
‘PLAYING for the badge’ isn’t enough on its own to survive in the Premier League – but Harry Maguire is now reaping the rewards of the loyalty he has shown to Manchester United.
It would have been easy for the centre-back to pack his kit bag and look for another challenge away from Old Trafford when Erik ten Hag stripped him of the captaincy and unceremoniously dropped him.
Not only had Maguire fallen behind Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof in Ten Hag’s plans, the Dutchman even brought Jonny Evans back to the club when the veteran Irishman was out of contract.
The writing wasn’t just on the wall for Maguire, it was written in 20-foot capital letters: ‘YOUR TIME IS UP’.
I am sure Harry was devastated. At £80million, he was the world’s most expensive defender – and here he was being told by his club that he simply wasn’t good enough.
Just as hurtful would have been the humiliating taunts he was subjected to by other fans.
Maguire really ran the Hampden gauntlet when England beat Scotland in Glasgow in September, and suffered the additional embarrassment of scoring an own-goal.
It was cruel. But football supporters have never been the most sensitive of souls, have they?
Maguire refused to sulk. He buckled down with a determination to prove his manager and his detractors wrong.
Now, with United’s season plunging up and down like a rollercoaster, he is still there for the ride.
Varane, a World Cup winner who 12 months ago had been in the France team beaten by Argentina in the 2022 final in Qatar, has taken his seat on the substitutes’ bench.
Yes, Martinez and Evans have been sidelined though injury, but Maguire’s renaissance has been one of the goodnews stories of the season. Being then named
Premier League player of the month for November would have given the England man tremendous satisfaction – and rightly so.
Maguire is putting himself on the line for Ten Hag at a time when the attitude and application of some of his team-mates is being questioned.
You would think that giving your all is the minimum requirement when you’re a professional.
But even when players are being paid handsomely, it is still a challenge to keep fighting for the shirt when you know the manager doesn’t rate you.
United were apparently ready to let Maguire join West Ham in the summer. A move to help his former club Leicester recover from relegation was also mooted.
But the centre-half never lost his belief that he would eventually force himself back into the fold.
Perhaps things may have panned out differently if Maguire had lost the faith of Gareth Southgate.
But the England manager has stuck by his principle that he will always back players who have never let their country down.
So Maguire has not only kept his place in the Three Lions squad but remains one of the first names on the team sheet.
Southgate has pretty much done the same with Kalvin Phillips, despite his problems forcing his way into Pep Guardiola’s plans at Manchester City.
It was some gamble by Maguire not to leave United with the Euro finals coming up at the end of this season, but he was right to back himself.
Southgate will hope that one of his first-choice central defenders can continue to get regular game-time at Old Trafford. It will be interesting to see whether he keeps his club place when Ten Hag’s squad is back to strength, especially when Martinez returns. But so far this season, Harry Maguire has been one of the few winners at Manchester
United.