Harry Maguire is one of several Manchester United players to impress during this winter’s World Cup and the 29-year-old’s performances have earned the praise of England manager Gareth Southgate.
Maguire was not guaranteed to be named in Southgate’s final 26-man squad following a long run of poor form for United but the Three Lions boss kept his faith in the player and that is now paying off.
This World Cup is the third straight major international tournament that Maguire is starting for England and he has hardly put a foot wrong in the first three games, with England ending the group stage as the only team to finish on nine points.
Speaking ahead of their crucial round-of-16 tie against Senegal on Sunday, Southgate has praised Maguire and put his patchy form down to the change of manager at Old Trafford.
“He’s a good player. He knows we have complete belief in him,” Southgate said, according to journalist Henry Winter.
“He’s had huge performances. He’s been a bit unfortunate with changes of managers & philosophies (at MUFC) and an injury. He’s missed time. But he felt the other night the love of the fans.”
Maguire is expected to be named in the starting line-up again on Sunday and he is likely to be joined by another two United stars, with Luke Shaw and Marcus Rashford potentially starting.
Shaw has started all three games so far and Rashford’s stellar form, which has put him at the top of the goalscoring charts in the World Cup, should earn him a start.
SN’s verdict…
Maguire’s form for club and country is polarising and although his continued impressive presence for the Three Lions is good for Southgate, it’s unlikely that Erik ten Hag will rethink his decision to bench the former Leicester star.
As things stand, Maguire is the fourth-choice centre-back at Old Trafford and that will remain the same unless injuries force Ten Hag into a change.
Furthermore, Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane have forged a seemingly unbreakable bond at the heart of United’s defence and it would be unwise to tear that up.
