Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
MAGNIFICENT
Cool, calm and collected, Harry adds real solidity to our defence He’s so strong... with Stones, they are the bedrock of England’s 2022 World Cup bid
TERRY BUTCHER is backing Harry Maguire to continue his remarkable return to form – and lead England to even greater success at next year’s World Cup in Qatar.
The former England captain was bowled over by Maguire’s performances at Euro 2020.
So were some of Europe’s top strikers as the Manchester United man returned from injury to inspire England to their first major tournament final since 1966.
Butcher could only look on and wonder what might have been, given that he once tried to bring the 28-year-old to Inverness Caledonian Thistle on loan during his time as manager while Maguire was coming through the ranks at Sheffield United.
The England legend, who won 77 England caps at the back during his career, said: “Harry Maguire is a footballing centre-back, as is John Stones, who took more of a back seat – he was the core of that back four so the others could go marauding. Maguire just adds a real solidity to the back four. He’s strong, he’s a good defender, but he’s also very good at coming out with the ball.
“He surprises teams when he does come out as well.
“Harry can pass the ball long, he’s got a good range of passing.
“He releases the ball at the right time, too – he’s not a hurried player, he’s a calm, cool and collected customer.
“He has improved and he has matured a lot since 2018. I’m delighted with him.
“And, whether it was a three at the back or a four at the back, England looked strong, very, very strong.” Butcher believes England can only get stronger too, with Joe Gomez and Trent
Alexander-Arnold set to return to the international reckoning after missing out on the Euros through injury.
Both will be back sooner rather than later, giving Southgate an embarrassment of defensive riches.
He is hardly short of attacking options, either, with some of the world’s most exciting attacking talent now wearing the Three Lions.
After his displays at Euro
2020, Maguire is now one of the most well-recognised defenders in world football.
What is less well known is the fact that he almost joined Butcher on loan during his time as a manager in Scotland.
“It’s true! How about that?” said, Butcher, who is supporting a new Well Pharmacy campaign aimed at addressing social anxiety as a result of the Covid pandemic.
“It was on the cards that we could get him, but we obviously didn’t know how good he was going to be then.
“A lot of players came up to us loan, including Charlie Taylor, now at Burnley.
“It would have been great to have added Harry to that list.
“We didn’t know too much about him, just that he was a big, strong defender who needed some first-team football.”
He has had plenty of opportunities since that move failed to get over the line.
After going from semi-finalist in 2018 to a finalist in 2021, Maguire will hope to complete the set in Qatar.
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