HARRY’S GAME
No hiding as Maguire battles to prove point
IT IS easy to picture Harry Maguire leaning over a glass barrier, trying to impress his wife Fern.
Goodness knows enough social media memes have been posted since the heady days of the 2018 World Cup.
Even Kyle Walker parodied the image, offering as a caption: “Yeah, so a good header doesn’t hurt. I mean the moment you head it proper, you feel it’s a good one. Know what I mean, love?”
After training yesterday, anybody watching England train in the heat here might have ventured another suggestion. “I was two yards ahead of everyone in the warm-up, love. I think I must be back to my best.”
Puffed out chest, a look of determination on his face and rather bright orange boots on his feet, Maguire seemed to be trying to convince himself as much as anybody else that he is still one of England’s main men.
Although the fellow England squad member who has known him the longest insists that belief is genuine.
Aaron Ramsdale joined Sheffield United as a youth player when Maguire was in the first team and later played alongside his brother Laurence at Chesterfield.
“I didn’t know him too much when I was at Sheffield United but I was with his brother at Chesterfield, so I got to know him and his brother well before I even made it to the senior squad,” said the Arsenal goalkeeper.
“He has not changed one bit. He is the Harry Maguire of four or five years ago.And the Harry Maguire of six months ago.
“He has come out here to prove a point – that he is still a top-class defender. Which he is, whether he has been playing or not.
“He is right at the front of training all the time and talking to everybody. He is not moping around – he is a top-class lad.”
Maguire went into the last World Cup as an unknown, reporting at St George’s Park with his boots in a bin bag while everybody else sported Louis Vuitton.
Now he is captain of the most famous club in the world.
In Russia, he was on top of his game, having played with Leicester every minute of the 2017-18 Premier League season.
This campaign, Maguire’s belief must have been tested by the lack of faith Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has shown in him. Since August, his one top-flight start came when Raphael Varane was injured and Victor Lindelof ill – aside from that he has just 10 minutes of Premier League action to draw on as he prepares for the World Cup. Ramsdale is adamant that goalkeepers will know if a centre-back is short of his top game. He said: “You never look at someone and go, ‘Wow they’re struggling’, because they’re topclass players. But you can notice a little bit, not too much. That’s where we can help by giving instructions.”
With John Stones short of football and Eric Dier just recently short of form, whoever is England’s goalkeeper could be busy this World Cup.
Whispers from the camp suggest Gareth Southgate will start his most established trio on Monday against Iran with Walker ruled out.
England’s fortunes will not so much depend on Maguire’s ability to lead from the front.
Instead, Southgate is banking on him having the genuine mental strength to be solid at the back.
He’s not moping around
He’s right at the front of training