Harry Maguire’s inclusion in England’s 26-man World Cup squad has predictably caused disagreement among fans across social media.
This afternoon I tweeted that there would be hoax outrage from sections of the media over Maguire’s selection, even though Gareth Southgate was always going to bring the Manchester United centre-back to Qatar.
There’s going to be a complete overreaction from sections of the media when Maguire gets selected by Southgate. ⌛️
— Stretty News (@StrettyNews) November 10, 2022
Maguire has struggled for game time this season, playing a bit-part role under Erik ten Hag when fit. He’s made four Premier League appearances this season, with just three of those coming as starts.
While it has been well documented that Maguire has struggled for form at United, I don’t think that has been the case on the international stage. The former Hull City defender has always been one of Southgate’s most trusted lieutenants, so he was never going to leave him at home.
On another note, I would argue that Maguire will be fresh ahead of the World Cup because he hasn’t been playing too much football this season. That isn’t the case for most players going to the World Cup.
Southgate explained his selection on Thursday, saying: “He is one of our best centre-backs.”
However, fans and journalists have been reacting to the news on social, and it shows that quite a few disagree with Maguire’s selection.
Southgate saying Abraham has missed out purely because he lost form at the wrong time is pretty laughable really, considering he's taking Maguire over Tomori.
— Charles Watts (@charles_watts) November 10, 2022
Tomori made a bold career move to go to Serie A and hasn’t been selected despite how good he’s been.
Why do guys like Coady who got rejected from Wolves and isn’t playing stellar football at Everton go over him? Dier has been struggling as well. Maguire is on the bench…
— EiF (@EiFSoccer) November 10, 2022
Southgate saying Abraham has missed out on the World Cup because he lost form at the wrong time whilst also calling up Maguire is, and I cannot express this enough, f*cking hilarious.
— Dylan Walsh (@dylanwalsh_) November 10, 2022
Ten Hag when Maguire tells him he got picked for the world cuppic.twitter.com/6E8MWIrkwC
— mo 🍥 (@Mo_therad) November 10, 2022
Tomori quite literally won a title. I get that Southgate likes Maguire but this quote feels like a violation. https://t.co/nEKn26bJMZ
— HLTCO (@HLTCO) November 10, 2022
The fact that Maguire gets a call up over Tomori is beyond me. Ten Hag really is the first manager to see the light by not playing him
That’s my manager 🇳🇱 pic.twitter.com/ozmH1zJK1S
— GoatSZN (@Goat7ii) November 10, 2022
We should note that not all of these tweets are from United fans.
