Is Harry Maguire being a worldwide punchline deserved?

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The fact that ETH would play a LB as CB while keeping Maguire on the bench is quite telling.
ETH wants a left footer on that side which is why Shaw gets preferred. And it's not like Shaw is just 'a leftback'. He's always had a very good all-round game where many of us thought he'd suit playing that role, and he's shown this season he's capable of actually being very good there. The fact he can play that role very well and is left-footed so brings the better passing angles is why he gets the nod. Which is also why ETH wouldn't play Shaw or Martinez on the right.
 
It’s not funny. Just because Maguire earns a lot more than you, you have right to abuse him? What’s wrong with you? You can make efforts to earn as much as him if you have talent on anything and work hard to fulfill your potential. If that happens, does anyone earn the right to abuse you? You have been ridiculing yourself.

I actually said I don't condone abuse, I just don't consider criticism of a player, or jokes about them, the same as actual abuse directed towards them.

Yeah I'd be pretty OK with criticism if it was in exchange for being worth tens of millions of pounds, like I said I don't condone any direct abuse, but if I was getting paid millions and was shit at my job and it was a very public, I wouldn't expect people on an online forum that I didn't have to read to not criticise me
 
ETH wants a left footer on that side which is why Shaw gets preferred. And it's not like Shaw is just 'a leftback'. He's always had a very good all-round game where many of us thought he'd suit playing that role, and he's shown this season he's capable of actually being very good there. The fact he can play that role very well and is left-footed so brings the better passing angles is why he gets the nod. Which is also why ETH wouldn't play Shaw or Martinez on the right.

Surely he prefers a so called top level CB to a LB playing as a CB.
 


Nah, it shocks me how many fans actually seriously rate maguire. He is an average defender but definitely not elite. However the worst thing about maguire isnt his averageness....its his mentality as a player. He never wants to take the blame for any of his poor displays but wants massive praise for his average displays.

He is a sucker for media praise...his whole identity is about that. His mentality wouldn't even be a show stopper but for the fact that he is a captain. He has the worst mentality of all captains i have seen at manutd. Last season he said that the fact that managers keep picking him means that he is good. Well this season, ETH made it clear that he is average, but rather than use the same logic to deduce his averageness, he chose to think that there is some conspiracy against him since we have won every game he played in. Its a no brainer that there is talk of him leaving in the summer, the brother cant handle competition and prefers to run rather than fight. Ole ruined this club more than most fans know. He rewarded a very lousy player with captainship just becoz he is English.

To me, its not a surprise that England and manutd have lost finals and semis under his watch...he just doesnt have the mindset of an elite defender or captain coupled with the fact that he is a very average defender technically. Who wants to follow a captain who will throw you under the bus and wont admit his mistakes. Its not a surprise that there was absolute chaos in the dressing room last season
 
Him being third, fourth, or fifth choice centre back isn't relevant because the point I was making was that the ridicule surrounding Maguire hasn't, as you implied, started because "we finally have a manager who understands modern football".

The ridicule (or ridicule on the level it's currently at) started last season when we were managed by Solskjaer.

Issues started cropping up when Ole decided that football had moved on since he started managing teams and he shifted to a high line defence. That was kind of difficult considering that he had wasted 130m on 2 defenders who could only play into a deep line defence and in a counter attacking football style. Ole ended up losing his job because of his many mistakes and ETH inherited this mess.
 
He does get too much stick, he didn't force united to sign him and has been involved in our highest finishing season as a starter and also first choice for England during one of the best spells for the national team, he is not world class but he is definitely not a donkey, everything seem to go down hill for him when ronaldo arrived on the scene and undermined him as captain and ever since then he has struggled
 
It’s the internet. It will follow him for the rest of his career.
Ole fecked him. Imagine naming a Leicester player captain when he has barely kicked a ball. Ridiculous management.
 
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Really?
So you don't get that being picked to play for one of the top footballing nation's over every other choice means that you are probably actually pretty decent?

And don't start saying that the alternatives are poor as well, as that is a straw man argument at best.
England have a pool of talent in defence, may not be a deep as they'd like but there's a good amount of CBs to choose over Maguire.

He's positionally weak, he's not the quickest, he makes a stupid decision every game which often leads to a chance, he's slow with build up play, he dawdles on the ball too often, he doesn't seem to inspire confidence in any of his team mates. Here in Germany where I am at least, I am often asked why he's playing at such a high level. Ten Hag has him as 5th choice and likely moving on. Isn't that clear enough evidence that he's a) not that good, and, b) definitely not good enough for United? He's in the England team because the level is much lower generally at international level and probably, frankly, because he is United captain as well as there being few alternatives who are much better than him.
 
No he's not. Shaw is preferred as CB which makes Maguire 3rd-4th CB at best. If Maguire doesn't want to leave after being relegated in such role then he's more of a meme than mainstream fans think. Its also ironic you're criticising Varane while defending Maguire. It's like criticising a Ferrari to defend a Lada.
Shaw wouldn't be picked at RCB, nor would Ten Hag move Martinez there instead of playing Maguire. Quite obvious from watching us.

It doesn't matter how good Varane is if he's only available for half the games.
 
The sad part is that he’s actually a United fan from a family of Man Utd fans. We are a disgrace.
The idea that I’m he is being bullied cause he’s arrogant is nonsensical.
 
It’s the internet. It will follow him for the rest of his career.
Ole fecked him. Imagine naming a Leicester player captain when he has barely kicked a ball. Ridiculous management.
And Ole playing him unfit has memed him
 
When he has a game where he doesn't do anything stupid, people will say he's had a good game

Because we're so used to him doing something stupid
 
And Ole playing him unfit has memed him
Abysmal management. He was unfit and having the worst form I’ve seen from a CB in years and that coach continued playing him.
His reputation is finished here.
The worst part is I suspect he doesn’t have any credibility as captain among the group.
 
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19-20 Average to decent season probably.

20-21 Terrible start but improved as the year went on and by the end he was playing very well. Genuinely good season.

21-22 Complete and utter disaster from start to finish. One of the all time worst seasons I've seen a Utd player have

22-23 Hasn't played as much and while not as bad as last season still not very good. Looks slower than ever.

For the money we paid it's been a calamity hasn't it? I don't like the way he's treated as a clown and the butt of all jokes but he's just been so poor. Surely he's gone in the summer.
 
Abysmal management. He was unfit and having the worst form I’ve seen from a CB in years and that coach continued playing him.
His reputation is finished here.
The worst part is I suspect he doesn’t have any credibility as capitalism among the group.

He definitely doesn't have any credibility as the primary Western financial system, he should stick to football
 
Clearly not deserved. He's obviously not worth the fee that was paid for him and he's not good enough to be a regular starter here but he's still a good PL player if he's at the right club.

He's made some awful errors but it's at the stage now where people actively look for a way to blame him even when he's not at fault. He's also targeted more because of his apparent dopey expression, just like Jones was for the faces he made, which is simply bullying. I'm sure there was a study last year that found he was the 2nd most abused player online behind Ronaldo, you can try not to take any notice but these days it's probably impossible to block all of that out. People mention the arrogant interviews and I can see why they think that but for me it's just his way of trying to defend himself and save his confidence from being completely destroyed.
 
What’s he said that shows he’s arrogant? He plays with zero confidence most of the time
 
The hate is incredibly harsh, but at the same time he makes Titus Bramble look like a glowing example of defensive consistency, so it’s just the nature of the beast. He shouldn’t have signed for us in the first place, his immobility and mistakes were as plain as day at Leicester and Hull.
 
If he played for any of our rivals we'd be loving it. His performances while playing for United coupled with his hubris have caused this.
Man, imagine if one of the PL clubs that stay up go for him and we have him against Rashford, Martial or even a new striker next season. We'd be absolutely relishing playing against that defence.
 
What’s he said that shows he’s arrogant? He plays with zero confidence most of the time
He looks like he plays with a massive ego doing what he wants, he does things that require huge confidence.
 
It’s pointless to argue whether this is deserved or not. Plenty of players became memes after their performance dipped, or when they found themselves in environments they don’t belong to, Torres, Fellaini, Lukaku just off the top of my head. It’s just the way it has always been in football and unless tomorrow you can magically take tribalism out of it and make people stop bantering, it’s not going away.

I would say though, the lack of empathy Maguire evokes from his own fans, to some extent, is out of his control. The guy is clearly struggling for confidence but as a fanbase we are used to people responding to scandal/widespread criticisms with excellence on the pitch, so the perceived shrinking violet act is less forgivable.
 
What’s he said that shows he’s arrogant? He plays with zero confidence most of the time
He was spouting off about having nothing to prove a couple of months ago. That’s a little arrogant. Couple that with cupping his ears after scoring a goal against some postmen when he was playing for England.

The biggest issue I have with him, aside from not being very good, is his losers mentality. Whenever we concede or something goes wrong he just mopes about. He’s the worst ‘leader’ I’ve ever seen and it’s clear players have little to no respect for him.
 
The sad part is that he’s actually a United fan from a family of Man Utd fans. We are a disgrace.
The idea that I’m he is being bullied cause he’s arrogant is nonsensical.
Well said. People stretching to justify his vilification on the basis of a couple of fairly run of the mill interviews are pathetic.
 
I don't like the sort of personal abuse and heightened attention that Maguire has received, I think it encapsulates all the bad things about football fans and social media culture.
What "personal" abuse has he received? Most of the stick he gets is football based- that ain't personal.
No but our fans have helped turn him into a meme. Well done you morons.
Surely his own poor performances have helped turn him into meme? Are you expecting our fans to pretend he's been brilliant when he hasn't?
Pretty much. Guys who've never played high level football sitting on couches making fun and abusing of some of the best footballers on the planet to make themselves feel better for not knowing how to kick a ball.

It's sad to see how football discussions have changed with social media to people saying horrible things about players just to get attention and likes.
Don't know where to start with this. If a player puts in a shit performance, it isn't bullying to say that he put in a shit performance. If Harry pays attention to people saying that he's a shit defender (and he probably doesn't) and it negatively affects him then he can either:
1. Improve or
2. Retire and enjoy being a multimillionaire.

I don’t think people should be punished for making a success of their lives. Being a millionaire doesn’t stop you from being human. We tend to forget these so-called football millionaires gambled on their one shut to get to where they got to. They are the success stories and should not be ridiculed for it because our lives are tough.
He's not being "punished" for being a professional footballer. He's his having his poor performances assessed. It has nothing to do with jealousy- if it was then all our players would be getting stick, including the likes of Licha and Casemiro- but they don't. Because they are performing.
 
It's dumb but i wouldn't expect anything less from football fans brains tbh.

They need to get a life.

Whats disappointing is that United won away at Forest, Maguire had a decent game yet some cnut from the United Stand was all over my twitter timeline talking absolute drivel about the player. the United stand cnut was having a meltdown because Maguire got booked and was trashing him to feck.

Haters like him make our fanbase a laughing stock, up there with Arsenal as the worst fanbase in the Premier League.

Like the Glazers they can get in the bin.
 
What "personal" abuse has he received? Most of the stick he gets is football based- that ain't personal.

If you don't think Maguire receives personal abuse on a massive scale then you are either living in a cave or simply don't understand what constitutes personal abuse.
 
It's horrendous the abuse the poor lad gets. Can you even begin to imagine how it must feel going out there knowing that every touch, pass or action on the pitch is going to be over-analysed to death in an attempt to call you a cnut? It must be awful for him and his family. I like Harry, he seems a good lad and even if he seemed a bit of a nugget, he still wouldn't deserve this media/twitter pile on.
 
Of course not... But it comes with the territory of being a £80m defender and captain for Manchester United unfortunately.

And, the media and even some coaches' obsession with him, right? Almost every PC comes with questions about Maguire. Bailly have talked about how he feels that he didn't get to compete for a spot for us on fair terms.

ETH is definitely pressured very hard to play Maguire and I would also definitely not rule out that it impacts his decision making. I just think this urges people to vocally raise their concerns about Maguire to create a counter balance.
 
And, the media and even some coaches' obsession with him, right? Almost every PC comes with questions about Maguire. Bailly have talked about how he feels that he didn't get to compete for a spot for us on fair terms.

ETH is definitely pressured very hard to play Maguire and I would also definitely not rule out that it impacts his decision making. I just think this urges people to vocally raise their concerns about Maguire to create a counter balance.
:lol: Ten Hag picks who he wants to pick ffs.
 
If you don't think Maguire receives personal abuse on a massive scale then you are either living in a cave or simply don't understand what constitutes personal abuse.
You may be right- give me your definition of the bolded.
 
It is interesting who fans pick and choose to afford their sympathy to.

We've had our very own academy products showered with dogs abuse and hounded off the pitch by said 'fans' but you hardly ever heard people copping pleas on their behalf since it was players they personally despised and those who would stand up for them were in turn mocked.

Either we don't tolerate that sort of thing at all for anyone or we accept that it's unfortunately part of the game. It must suck on a personal level but they're compensated quite handsomely for their troubles. 100% those bemoaning his treatment would be lapping it up if he played for Liverpool, Arsenal, City or Chelsea. That's how sports fandom is. Picking and choosing who deserves what or what's fair or isn't is an exercise in futility as so much of what makes up fandom is inherently irrational.
 
Was given far more time by this fanbase than others have been.
He was shit for one season only when here - the last one along with 90% of the squad - and was basically abused for the majority of it. He had a bomb threat at his house ffs - you are right though - that was after a whole 4 months of bad form. Far too much patience given.
 
He plays for one of the major global clubs
He cost a record amount of money for his position
He is also the club captain for that major global club.

And now this season he’s playing for a manager whose style of play does not play to his strengths, so therefore it’s more amplified again.

You could put Tyrone Mings in his place and people worldwide will be calling you Mings if you do something shit and he’ll be a meme for shit football, but because the spotlight on United are far more intense than on Villa, no-one really cares.
 
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