[Lynty]

There wasn't a £80m defender available. We were desperate for an upgrade (and overall he was) and Leicester rinsed us.

In this instance, he was at fault. But it was a lovely nutmeg and De Gea should have smothered it

 

[Sultan]

Every player needs time to bed in, but at 80million should be we expect the finished article?

Players do not set the prices. There's something called supply, demand, want and need. United ticked all the boxes in that regard. Pains me to say this, but I personally do not see a better player in that position with the exception of VvD.

 

[FootyGirl88]

Players do not set the prices. There's something called supply, demand, want and need. United ticked all the boxes in that regard. Pains me to say this, but I personally do not see a better player in that position with the exception of VvD.

Ole wanted a British CB, the only other player that fits the bill is Dunk at Brighton, he’s a leader and is strong in the air.

 

[DoomSlayer]

Players do not set the prices. There's something called supply, demand, want and need. United ticked all the boxes in that regard. Pains me to say this, but I personally do not see a better player in that position with the exception of VvD.

Yeah, people want the full package for that sort of money, but is there a player that is comparable to the skillset that Van Dijk provides, whilst also being available? I don't think so.

Koulibaly was supposed to be priced at £130m+ by Napoli, that's 50% more expensive than what we paid for Maguire. And I think he also has a few deficiencies to his game, he isn't flawless and for that kind of money, you'd expect exactly that.

 

[Houdini]

5.7 for me this season. He is srong but thats all.

 

[meamth]

He's 27... he should be hitting his peak.

He's about the same level as Smalling.

I argued this in the summer and folks were having none of it.

And before you go off on one about Smalling, if you look at every defensive aspect in the performance data the differences are minimal between the two.

If age is the only determining factor of players settlement than you shouldn't be watching football though.

He came from Leicester, he needs time to adjust to his new responsibilities.

In terms of ability, Maguire got it.

 

[spiriticon]

I don't know how I rate Maguire overall but I do know he's not Rio or Vidic's level.

 

[ThinkTank@Cafe]

Maguire is shit In FM. Most people who hate him here play with Konate, Dias of Upamecano. Todibo also looks nice.

In reality though, if we didn’t bring Maguire we wouldn’t be in CL race today. How much is CL revenue? 60 million? With Smalling/ Bailly and Lindelof we would struggle against high press. Did you forget what was our biggest problem before? No composure on the ball in central defense means no build up whatsoever. We struggled to make a an attempt at times.

Ole did a fantastic job both on and off the pitch, and finally we are good on the ball all the way through the middle. We have reliable delivery channels. That‘s why we paid 80m. It can be argued that the price was high. Think of the context. Reality is multidimensional, there are a lot of factors affecting transfer choices. Maguire was a very good purchase.

He has weaknesses, he is not van Dijk (who is a generational talent), but he is a big factor in how we developed as a team. And yes, he was shit against Bmouth.

 

[Sultan]

Ole wanted a British CB, the only other player that fits the bill is Dunk at Brighton, he’s a leader and is strong in the air.

To be fair, Dunk is no Maguire. He plays for Brighton. With due respect to Brighton, besides his ability as a player, he needs mental strength in abundance to play we for a club like United where every move is scrutinised on and off the pitch.

 

[Andycoleno9]

In what area he is really good exactly? Please, just please don't say leadership

 

[Keefy18]

If age is the only determining factor of players settlement than you shouldn't be watching football though.

He came from Leicester, he needs time to adjust to his new responsibilities.

In terms of ability, Maguire got it.

I'm not saying age is the only factor, obviously there are others.

I'm honestly not sure he is going to turn into this world class CB people are expecting. When I mention his age, time isn't exactly on his side is it?

You say age isn't the only factor and throw in the fact he needs time to adjust, what about VVD? Reality is he's going to be compared to him cause he's our rival, cost a similar fee, is very similar in age (few months in difference) and there was little to no adjustment for VVD at Liverpool.

I actually done up a huge performance data table comparing Maguire to our CB's in the months leading up to us signing him. It took his 2 seasons at Leicester from 2017 through to 2019 and the same for our CB's during the same period.

He was middling, somewhere below Vic and marginally better than Smalling if memory serves right.

 

[roonster09]

In what area he is really good exactly? Please, just please don't say leadership

Solskjaer identified the England international as a centre-back who is comfortable enough to take the ball out of defence with the ball at his feet. And up against attacking players, Maguire is ranked the 4th best player in the league with moving the ball forward. Those ahead of him in the charts include Jack Grealish, Wilfried Zaha and Adama Traore. Maguire is the only central defender in the top 10, having carried the ball 6187 yards this season.

Second in headers won too among CBs in PL.

 

[Classical Mechanic]

Second in headers won too among CBs in PL.

Also has the most goals and assists for a centre back since he's been playing in the league. His 6 goals and assists in all comps this season is the highest for a CB at United for a long time.

 

[roonster09]

Also has the most goals and assists for a centre back since he's been playing in the league. His 6 goals and assists in all comps this season is the highest for a CB at United for a long time.

Yeah he was proper goal threat too at least till last season.

It's amazing how if a player has one weakness, his stronger area is also written off. Maguire is very good at carrying the ball. Instead of hoofing, he has composure to dribble past players. His passing isn't very good but still it's upgrade on what we had.

Saying that he should stop this nonsense of letting people go past him so easily. It's only one or two moments but it ends up as costly mistakes.

 

[SambaBoy]

Was definitely an upgrade to our team. I think the £80m will always be held against him. He's not worth that amount of money and everyone knew it at the time, but sometimes you have to bite the bullet instead of gambling on £25-30m players like Lindelof, Rojo and Bailly which may work out but also may not. We couldn't have another year of an unsettled defence with no leadership or no guarantee of delivering from the off. I'm sure the club knew this hence the long negotiations and in the end, thought despite the price he is the best option plus the likes of Lindelof and Bailly would have been £40m purchases in the summer just gone rather than the previous £30m.

I'm not saying you can't sign good CB's or upgrades for £10-£40m, but you also have the risk of them not settling or not being as good as initially thought. Everyone knew what we were getting with Maguire. Someone who knows the league, is a mainstay in teams, good in the air, leader at the back, an upgrade on what we currently had and a good defender.

 

[OldTrevil]

I think he is okay while we are getting ourselves back in among the big boys, as the key now is to put away the mid and lower level teams mainly with our firepower. There will be many questions on him once we get back challenging at the top though, the point where you meet another complete team and have to win extremely tight games 1-0 or 2-1 with everyone getting challenged individually in addition to as a collective.

 

[Leftback99]

It's easy to criticise and say he's not worth this and that, another to actually come up with an alternative to improve on him.

 

[RedRonaldo]

He is slow in defending, and he slows us down in attack too. Apart from that, he is quite a decent defender, who occasionally make some mistake when he got exposed. Overall I rate him as a 6/10 signing (let's say around 30-35m worth in todays market)

 

[432JuanMata]

I like Maguire a lot. He's miles better than Smalling/Lindelof/Jones but he seems to be one of those players who can lose form easily. Rooney perhaps being an example in that he had to be in absolute peak form to perform to his highest otherwise he looked average. Matic too. And Maguire seems to be similar that way.

He is not miles better than Victor which is actually the problem, even if he is better for 80m you would expect a serious upgrade on Lindelof which he is not. Sure this season alone I don’t even think he has been better both have brain farts.

 

[BlahRules]

Paying 80 million for a defender you would expect him to be the complete defender. For us to have to buy another defender to compensate his deficits shows we grossly overpaid.

We are now in a position where we have to buy another player or hope that Tuanazebe or Mengi become the 80 million player we need.

 

[lsd]

Ole wanted a British CB, the only other player that fits the bill is Dunk at Brighton, he’s a leader and is strong in the air.

What is this "he's a leader " nonsense that gets trotted out as a reason to buy these players

What about Maguire makes him a leader other than he is English and white ?

I don't even think it is being English

You don't see Nathan Ake being called a leader even though he is a better defender .

Are Utd players like Pogba and Fernandes supposed to be inspired by Maguire because he sometimes wins a few headers ?

 

[FootyGirl88]

What is this "he's a leader " nonsense that gets trotted out as a reason to buy these players

What about Maguire makes him a leader other than he is English and white ?

I don't even think it is being English

You don't see Nathan Ake being called a leader even though he is a better defender .

Are Utd players like Pogba and Fernandes supposed to be inspired by Maguire because he sometimes wins a few headers ?

I was talking about Dunk, hes their leader he’s the captain.

 

[lsd]

I was talking about Dunk, hes their leader he’s the captain.

Yeah I know I am just generally interested why these players are called leaders when there is nothing I can see out if the ordinary in them .

Could you really put Dunk in the United team and call him a leader ?

He may be the captain but anyone can be a Captain . Being a leader has to be something different surely and I just don't see how Maguire or Dunk can be labelled leaders

 

[Fussmeister]

Jeez, he went from captain fantastic to shit in one game. He had a game off, lets move on people and enjoy the CL race

 

[A-man]

One leadership skill that Maguire, Lindelof and DDG all lack is clearly how to organise the defence at setpieces. It’s on Ole as well. This must improve. Someone posted stats showing that Liverpool and United have conceded more or less equal amount of goals from open play, but United so many more from setpieces.

 

[Classical Mechanic]

Yeah I know I am just generally interested why these players are called leaders when there is nothing I can see out if the ordinary in them .

Could you really put Dunk in the United team and call him a leader ?

He may be the captain but anyone can be a Captain . Being a leader has to be something different surely and I just don't see how Maguire or Dunk can be labelled leaders

And what special insight do you have as to what goes on in the United dressing room and at Carrington?

 

[roonster09]

Yeah I know I am just generally interested why these players are called leaders when there is nothing I can see out if the ordinary in them .

Could you really put Dunk in the United team and call him a leader ?

He may be the captain but anyone can be a Captain . Being a leader has to be something different surely and I just don't see how Maguire or Dunk can be labelled leaders

Tbf we know feck all on what goes behind the scenes, so for these it's best to go with what coaches, managers, players say about the player.

If Ole says Maguire is a leader then no one has any proof to argue against that.

 

[roonster09]

And what special insight do you have as to what goes on in the United dressing room and at Carrington?

Exactly.

 

[Dante]

Maguire suffers from the same problem as Pogba. His price tag means that people expect impossible levels of perfection.

Both are very good players who make the odd mistake.

 

[Sandikan]

He is not miles better than Victor which is actually the problem, even if he is better for 80m you would expect a serious upgrade on Lindelof which he is not. Sure this season alone I don’t even think he has been better both have brain farts.

He is without doubt better than Lindelof and comfortably so.
Beast in the air, much better passing, stronger and better tackling.

A couple of dodgy moments recently don't change that. Plus playing with Lindelof is not a good pairing which hopefully Ole recognises. I'm nervous other priorities will see us ignore that position though.

 

[FootyGirl88]

Yeah I know I am just generally interested why these players are called leaders when there is nothing I can see out if the ordinary in them .

Could you really put Dunk in the United team and call him a leader ?

He may be the captain but anyone can be a Captain . Being a leader has to be something different surely and I just don't see how Maguire or Dunk can be labelled leaders

Tbh I don’t watch Brighton that much so I wouldn’t know, @The Boy is probably the best person to ask.

 

[Sandikan]

Maguire suffers from the same problem as Pogba. His price tag means that people expect impossible levels of perfection.

Both are very good players who make the odd mistake.

It's exactly that.
Hopefully we can bring the Bruno to Pogba equivalent of a new centre back to Maguire.

One that so massively complements the other.

 

[westmeath]

I genuinely think Maguire is absolutely world class. Top 3 centre backs in the world for me.

I think it’s great the way everyone is allowed have an opinion

 

[horsechoker]

Jeez, he went from captain fantastic to shit in one game. He had a game off, lets move on people and enjoy the CL race

No one mistake and you're dead to me.

It's why I don't have friends, they kept disappointing me.

 

[VeevaVee]

He seems to have a moment every few games. A few quality games then a moment. Is that normal for a good defender? It’s been that long since we’ve had one I don’t actually know.

 

[The Boy]

Yeah I know I am just generally interested why these players are called leaders when there is nothing I can see out if the ordinary in them .

Could you really put Dunk in the United team and call him a leader ?

He may be the captain but anyone can be a Captain . Being a leader has to be something different surely and I just don't see how Maguire or Dunk can be labelled leaders

Tbh I don’t watch Brighton that much so I wouldn’t know, @The Boy is probably the best person to ask.

Dunk’s position at Brighton is bit different from Maguire’s. I would call Dunk a good leader but wonder if he’d be so effective in that role at another club. Dunk to Brighton is like Giggs to United or Adams at Arsenal. He’s (so far) a one club man, he is the guy that has been through everything with us from League 1 to the prem. he’s part of the furniture! He organises our defence, he’s played alongside our last two captains Greer and Bruno. He leads by example and gives his all pretty much every minute he plays and has saved us on so many occasions.

Off the pitch you won’t catch Dunk breaking lockdown or any other shenanigans. Maybe a bit like Keane, Dunk is at the heart of our team and has been for a long time.

In my mind that makes a good leader, do you see Maguire in that? that’s another question.

 

[The Boy]

He seems to have a moment every few games. A few quality games then a moment. Is that normal for a good defender? It’s been that long since we’ve had one I don’t actually know.

All defenders feck up sometimes

 

[Vernon Philander]

You don't stand square on to the attacker. That is the basics of defending.
You especially don't stand square on if it takes you hours to move position. You stand side on, ready to turn either way.

This is nonsense, did you watch what happened?

He had to get towards Stanislas quickly as the balled spilled to him. No human runs sideways like a crab. You're making it out like he was just waiting there standing square, asking for the nutmeg.

 

[starman]

I am not saying Maguire is on the same level, but the way people are hypercritical on here I doubt Rio or Stam would have survived given some of the mistakes they made. As soon as they had a few bad games the fans here would want them sold and onto their next shiny new toy...

 

[Pav1878]

This is nonsense, did you watch what happened?

He had to get towards Stanislas quickly as the balled spilled to him. No human runs sideways like a crab. You're making it out like he was just waiting there standing square, asking for the nutmeg.

He had time to adjust his feet. Stop making excuses for him