Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand claims that Harry Maguire will be worried about his place in the England national team for the upcoming World Cup after losing his place in Erik ten Hag’s line-up.
Ferdinand believes that if Maguire continues to sit on the bench for United, he might lose his place in the England squad – which is a disaster for the player during a World Cup year.
“The centre-back partnership have played two games now and you go ‘woah’, Harry Maguire’s sitting there and scratching his head thinking not even about United, probably thinking United immediately now but he’s looking long-term and thinking England,” Ferdinand said via Vibe with Five, as quoted by the Manchester Evening News.
“’I could be in the England team because I won’t be playing if this continues if these two strike up the partnership that it looks like it’s mustering up together now, I won’t play for not only Man United but England will be a problem for me.’
“If I’m Harry Maguire, there’s concern for me there but Erik ten Hag has to be selfish and think about one thing and Man United, that’s it.”
Harry Maguire could lose his place in England squad
Maguire, 29, started in our first two games of the season but we lost both matches and played appallingly. Then things picked up once Maguire and Luke Shaw were dropped from the starting line-up and they will find it difficult to get back in.
Ten Hag chose to start Raphael Varane instead of Maguire, alongside Lisandro Martinez at the heart of defence, and they formed a formidable partnership in consecutive wins over Liverpool and Southampton.
However, I suspect we will see quite a bit of rotation this season due to the fact games are coming fast to make room for the World Cup in November-December.
Ferdinand believes Maguire sitting on the bench could have an impact on his chances of getting into Gareth Southgate’s squad for the World Cup. The England manager has left out several United players from previous squads, including Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho.
