The England manager has explained his decision to call up Manchester United club captain Harry Maguire to the World Cup squad.
Maguire was named to represent the Three Lions in Qatar despite a significant lack of playing time compared to other centre-back alternatives.
This season, Maguire has started only four games in all competitions. Erik ten Hag has preferred a partnership of Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane, with Victor Lindelof being next in the pecking order.
However, Southgate has always backed Maguire to perform regardless of his performances or game time. The 29-year-old played a crucial role for England in both the 2018 World Cup and Euro 2020 tournaments, in which the Three Lions narrowly missed out on lifting both trophies.
The competition may also provide Maguire with a chance to rebuild his confidence ahead of the return of club football. United’s schedule will be heavily congested once players return, and Ten Hag will be keeping an eye on his squad members over the next month.
Southgate explains reasoning behind Maguire choice
When talking to Football Daily, the manager named Maguire: “One of our best centre-backs”.
🗣 "He's one of our best centre-backs."
Gareth Southgate on Harry Maguire's inclusion in the England squad pic.twitter.com/FaNI1EJyQC
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) November 10, 2022
Regarding Maguire’s lack of minutes on the pitch, Southgate added: “Physically, we’ve had really good communication with all of the clubs in this period on the training loads of all of the players…
“We needed to know those who are playing – what’s their load? Those who are playing less regularly, some have had an unbelievably intense schedule, some had had less so.
🗣 "We've picked our more experienced defenders. The younger ones have got really good qualities but not enough to push the more experienced ones out."
Gareth Southgate on Harry Maguire making the England squad despite struggling to get minutes for Man United pic.twitter.com/suWobKTfwl
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) November 10, 2022
Footage courtesy of Football Daily
“We’ve picked our more experienced defenders and we think that at this moment in time, the younger ones have got some really good qualities but we don’t think they’ve quite done enough to push the more experienced ones out. And we think the tournament we’re going into and the level of the matches, that that needed to be the pecking order.”
