Harry Maguire believes that he has been in good form for Manchester United and England this season, despite continuously being slated for his performances in a Red shirt last season.
Some people still can’t let it go.
Only this week, former Manchester United right-back Paul Parker publicly stated that he felt England manager Gareth Southgate ‘disrespected’ Erik ten Hag by selecting Maguire for his latest squad.
The only person being disrespected here is Maguire… by Parker!
Maguire has his faults and United are better with a defensive partnership of Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez, but it is moronic to argue that he hasn’t been good in an England shirt when he has been one of Southgate’s most consistent performers.
So, kudos to Maguire for standing up for himself. Opportunities have been hard to come by at United this season, purely based on the form of two World Cup-winners playing at centre-back, but Maguire believes he has done well whenever called upon.
“Obviously this season I haven’t played as much as I’d like but, for my club, I feel like my form’s been good this year,” Maguire told PA Sport, as quoted by the Manchester Evening News. “I know people obviously look at me not playing but when I’ve played, I think in my last eight or nine starts for Manchester United we have won.
“I can’t remember losing a game for Manchester United, it must be the third week of the season. So my influence is still there.
“But of course I love playing for my country and in 50-odd caps I feel like I’ve never let my country down. I think in terms of minutes on the clock I played two games last week, two 90 minutes for Manchester United.
“I think last month I played four games, started four, so it’s probably as many as a lot of the lads in the dressing room if not more. Listen, I want to play every game, I want to play every game for my club and my country.
“I feel like I’m good enough to play at a high level and I’ve proven that over the last five, six years now.”
No matter what happens between now and the end of the season, Maguire will be linked with moves away from Old Trafford in the summer. He will want to get back to playing football regularly and there should be opportunities for him to do that in the top half of the Premier League.
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