Luke Shaw has backed fellow Red Harry Maguire for brushing off the criticism and giving quality performances.
Maguire has been on the receiving end of bad press since he signed for United in 2019, largely due to his hefty price tag of £80 million, making him the most expensive defender in the world.
He has struggled to live up to the expectations that come with such a costly fee and consequently, has been mocked for every mistake, conceded goal and bad game. His poor spells are magnified and ridiculed more than any other centre-back or defender, which also comes with playing for a club with a stature like United.
At international level, the 29-year-old’s form has never waivered and despite starting just three Premier League games this season, he was named in Gareth Southgate’s 26-man squad to represent England in Qatar. Maguire has started every match and kept three clean sheets, whilst proving to be a reliable and solid starter in the backline, hence why Gareth Southgate continues to instil his trust in him.
Shaw’s support for Maguire
Shaw has spoken out on his fellow England international’s torrid time over recent seasons. He said on talkSPORT: “Every player gets some stick for not performing right, but what he got wasn’t right. It wasn’t far from a disgrace, to be honest. Players can have bad performances but the pressure that he was under, the media bias that he was getting, it wasn’t fair.
⛔️ “Every player gets stick but what Maguire got wasn’t right. It wasn’t far from a disgrace to be honest.”#ENG defender Luke Shaw SLAMS the media treatment of his fellow #MUFC teammate Harry Maguire! #FIFAWorldCup #TSWorldCup pic.twitter.com/uBX4JwtaM6
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) December 7, 2022
“The mentality that he’s shown to put that aside and come out to this tournament when there was a lot of calls for him to be dropped, not in the squad, for him to come in and play how he has – I think it’s really good for him, I’m very happy for him. He deserves it after all the stick he’s been getting, he deserves this and hopefully, he can keep it up.”
