Seriously? He's been a complete liability for us this season and has made so many mistakes that have led to goals. The CB position is one of the most important areas we need to invest in ASAP.
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There isn't a very capable defender in Maguire. He's simply shit. This does not invalidate your general point that the midfielders expose the defenders way too much. That point of yours is also true and two things can be true at the same time. Just look at Maguire whenever De Gea rolls the ball to him. Maguire does not know how to take care of the ball or beat a press. Maguire turns slower than the Titanic. You need to rewatch Tieleman's goal at Leicester to get a complete picture. Leicester players kept waiting for when Maguire is in possession and they press him hard and he lost the ball each time they did that to him.
Another point that gets ignored a lot is that Maguire gets a lot of stick because of his price tag. He also doesn't help himself by getting his family members to post his stats on social media or cupping his ears after scoring for England. The fans don't forget this level of insolence. He's by far the worst signing in the history of the club if you factor in the amount of money spent by Ole to bring him in. Maguire makes Smalling and Johnny Evans look like Maldini. If United really want to compete with the big clubs next season, Maguire has to go. The club should cut their losses and sell him to any of the newly promoted clubs. United can do better than a defender who lacks any sort of athleticism, pace, agility and a football brain.
Get rid!!!
You wouldn't judge the whole team bar Ronaldo. But you wanna replace the whole team, bar Ronaldo
You need that type of goalkeeper yes. But you also need agile CB's. Its not a either or.
Exactly. I appreciate the reponse from @Lyng but I respectfully disagree that Maguire can't play in a progressive system with a high-line.
I 100% agree that the move towards a more progressive style of football has been the reason for our struggles this season but I have a different opinion about where the blame for that lies.
I would say its a result of our forwards and midfielders not understanding what is required to play this system, as opposed to the CBs. I dont blame them for this neccessarily, I think much of it is on Ole and his coaching staff for not preparing adequately in pre-season. Sometimes its easy to blame lack of effort but some of our players definitely do try to press, they just dont do it effectively as a team, so its incredibly easy to play through and we're left even more exposed.
So I agree with much of the diagnosis of our issues this season but not the conclusion as to who or what is to blame.
For what its worth, I actually think Maguire's style is very progressive. Aggressive and not afriad to push-up the pitch either in defensive actions or with the ball.
I think the crux of it is that whatever does happen in the Summer, the fans have to be willing to get behind whichever players are at the club next season and the manager. We're not going to fix all of our issues overnight, so there are going to be one or two players at least playing regularly whom we know won't or shouldn't have a long-term future at the club.
It feels like at the moment that fans have created factions and are waiting for certain players to fail so they can claim to be right. We have all done this at times, we're all guilty of it because we've had such a terrible season it's been hard for all of us not to get frustrated at times and want to lash out. Myself included.
If Paul Pogba is at the club, we need to get behind him. Same with Rashford, same with Maguire, same with Shaw etc....as long as their effort and commitment on the pitch can't be questioned.
I don't like to see Pogba booed of the pitch. I don't like to see the substitutions of Rashford or Maguire applauded. I don't like to see the hounding of players on social media. It must have an impact on the players, they're humans not robots, it certainly can't help.
Post NovemberYou wouldn't judge the whole team bar Ronaldo. But you wanna replace the whole team, bar Ronaldo
It’s cute that some people think it’s as simple as replacing Maguire with some quick CB or blaming mainly him for us not playing a high line.
A team which uses a high line must be comfortable in possession, from the goalkeeper all the way to the forwards and especially in midfield. If you are playing a high risk game you have to make sure that your defenders are under pressure / isolated as little as possible. However if they are put under pressure every time the opposition attacks because our forwards and midfielders can’t keep the ball for more than 5 seconds then you can forget about playing a high risk game.
And this is before I even start talking about fullbacks or a goalkeeper who hoofs the ball every time to an opposition player or out of play.
A team which uses a high line must be comfortable in possession, from the goalkeeper all the way to the forwards and especially in midfield. If you are playing a high risk game you have to make sure that your defenders are under pressure / isolated as little as possible. However if they are put under pressure every time the opposition attacks because our forwards and midfielders can’t keep the ball for more than 5 seconds then you can forget about playing a high risk game.
And this is before I even start talking about fullbacks or a goalkeeper who hoofs the ball every time to an opposition player or out of play.
Exactly. This United team is never suited to play high press. Not sure why people are so into Rangnick's bollox.
Wasn't the April fools day like a month ago?
I hope hairy hands is right.
Has someone started the go fund me page yet?
We’d reject the offer anyway as the new manager wants to work with him before making a decision.
I have American dollars at the ready!!!!
How much do we have to pay Chelsea?
I’d back the new manager to use him and get him back to his best. He’s been a massive scapegoat this season and is a much better player than he’s given credit for. CB is the least of our problems.
New manager and system, then a functioning midfield, we may not be as bad as some are making out in central areas. Keeping Varane fit is key to making it work and not having to rely on Dalot & Telles being the starting fullbacks. Managers 'should' be able to get the best out of what they have available, something Ralf has rarely done. If there were any truth in Harry going to Chelsea he'd be fine in their defensive 3 system. Whatever Ten Hag decides he wants is the priority, not whom a lot of fans are blaming for the entire team not functioning.
People are forgetting ten Hag outplayed/went toe-to-toe with the likes of Madrid, Juve, Bayern and Dortmund with Blind. Blind was fantastic but Maguire is better. EtH will be a fan of 'arry's.
Blind is multiple levels above Maguire when it comes to technical capabilities. He can do things with the ball under pressure that Maguire can‘t even imagine.
Oh the levels of disrespect Daley gets here sometimes
I'd argue this is only really true if your team is implementing a high line for the sake of it.
City's centre backs do not regularly spend their time hounding back chasing strikers running through on goal because the rest of their team is set up in a manner consistent with the high line they play. They press extremely aggressively from the front in order to limit the time opposition players have to play long balls over the top, they have a defensive midfielder excellent at screening the defence, and they have a keeper willing to rush out and limit the time strikers have when they do breach the line. Further, they employ an effective offside trap which I'd argue is pretty much a necessity in any high line.
If you're regularly finding strikers bounding through on goal then your team certainly isn't setting itself up right. A high line is inherently a high risk high reward strategy, but if you don't implement the other strategies to cut off space then you just end up with the risk.
Blind is more agile and much much better on the ball. He also reads the play much better and generally takes better decisions under pressure than Maguire.
Physical strength and aerial ability are the only two things Maguire has that are better than Blind.
Good call.
Maguire often reminds me of Blind, funnily enough, so it might be worthwhile allowing ETH time to work with him. If he can get Maguire back to his best, restore his rock-bottom confidence, we can forgo spending money on his replacement. That's a big if though.
He's a quality central defender on his day and is superior to Lindelof in terms of top level.
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He doesnt work. Maguire at his best is still the complete opposite of the style of defender needed for Ten Hags system.
Maguire and Blind also couldnt be more different. One is a excellent passer who reads the play really well and constantly moves correctly.
The other is terrible at short passing but is physically and aerially much better. The latter two attributes are not really utilized in a Ten Hag system, but still have some value in the premier league.
Maguire is a great defender in a different system.
C'mon mate, Maguire is big and strong. As a footballer it isn't even a contest. Blind's ability on the ball and reading of the game is far superior.
And if the answer is going to be: "anyone can look good in a highlight reel", my answer will be: "there is no highlight reel out there demonstrating Harry has that same ability on the ball or that type of close control, because his technique is nowhere near Blind's".
Just seen he's on a 6 year contract, only way to get rid is too isolate him from the 1st team and force him to take a paycut elsewhere. He'd leave as he'd want to save his England career.
So many goals we've conceded have been more to him not doing the basics right vs a systemic issue.
We've seen systemic issues the past month or two since the majority of players have decided there is nothing to play for after getting knocked out the UCL, but prior to Christmas he made numerous individual basic mistakes under little to no pressure. One easy example which we've seen repeatedly this year was Leicester's goal where the ball was stripped off him when he had time to pass or just put it out for a throw, leading to Tielemans to chip.
Having your captain perform like this from match day #2 just helped to set the tone for the entire year.
It's revisionism that he is fine with a competent midfield, fullback, striker, coach, chips etc. Us having problems elsewhere doesn't absolve him being our worst player this year.
Unfortunately for us only in heading a ball away - the number of chances he's gotten with us the last 3 years from corners...only scored about 4-5 of them.
Really think folks are looking at this the wrong way. Harry Maguire will be at Manchester United next season, and on one of the larger wages. He will be a big part of the first team. So, ETH needs to work out what to do with him, rather than plan without him.
For me, the big change from actually really good Maguire (we had an impressive defence just 2 seasons ago built around him) to this season is composure. He's just totally lost it. My big hope at the start of the season was that having an incredibly experienced, trophy-laden Varane next to him would let Maguire take second fiddle, and listen and calm the f*ck down. Instead, all I hear is that Varane has never been vocal, so Maguire seems to have gotten worse.
A better man-manager (and let's be honest, Rangnick doesn't appear to do that at all) would have tried to fix Maguire's psychology. Hopefully that's something ETH can work on.
If Harry can calm down, keep things simple and get back to his usual game he's still a pretty solid premier league centre back. There is no reason a combo of Maguire/Varane shouldn't be very effective - both are good in the air, one has speed the other is pretty rugged. If I were ETH I'd be aiming to work with that, and any player that comes in will replace Lindelof in the pecking order, or make up numbers with Jones/Bailly likely off.
For me, the big change from actually really good Maguire (we had an impressive defence just 2 seasons ago built around him) to this season is composure. He's just totally lost it. My big hope at the start of the season was that having an incredibly experienced, trophy-laden Varane next to him would let Maguire take second fiddle, and listen and calm the f*ck down. Instead, all I hear is that Varane has never been vocal, so Maguire seems to have gotten worse.
A better man-manager (and let's be honest, Rangnick doesn't appear to do that at all) would have tried to fix Maguire's psychology. Hopefully that's something ETH can work on.
If Harry can calm down, keep things simple and get back to his usual game he's still a pretty solid premier league centre back. There is no reason a combo of Maguire/Varane shouldn't be very effective - both are good in the air, one has speed the other is pretty rugged. If I were ETH I'd be aiming to work with that, and any player that comes in will replace Lindelof in the pecking order, or make up numbers with Jones/Bailly likely off.
Maguire reads the game as well as anyone in our defence, plus he's more than comfortable on the ball, with a wide range of passes available to him. He hasn't shown us that this season due to his form falling off a cliff, but he isn't alone in that department - the entire first-team squad (bar Ronaldo) has been a country mile from their best form this season.
I'd be willing to give him a pass this season, personally, along with several other United players. I don't believe what we've seen from him over the past 12 months is a fair reflection of his capabilities, ditto many other squad members. I can't say the same for Lindelof, though, as he's always appeared cowardly to me. I don't think he's cut out for the PL.
If anything, I'd give the forgotten man Bailly a shot ahead of Lindelof. He's shown he has the natural ability to be a great central defender - better than Maguire in terms of pure talent - but the lack of a fully functioning brain holds him back. He's definitely got something to work with though.
What have you seen that makes you feel Maguire is better than Blind?
I have to say I feel very different about his passing. It's almost always the wrong pace and slighter to high or short, which makes it harder for the receiver.
Leave Maguire space and he can ping a decent long ball. Put him under pressure and he starts to look like a league 1 player and I think I'm being slightly generous comparing his passing/close contol to a league 1 player.
How many times have we seen him bring the ball out under no pressure, stop when an opposition player starts to close him down, looks around for 5 seconds then either plays it back again or to the person closet to him even if that player is tightly marked. A ball playing CB our 'Arry certainly is not.
Hopefully he will leave in the summer of 2023 after spending most of the season on the bench while varane and our new cb (heres to hoping) do actual defending without the useless tool. No recovery pace, no pace to speak of and no positional sense. Whichever scouts signed off on his signing need to be fired.
I expect him to lose the captaincy and perform much better as a result
League one? Hyperbolic nonsense at its typical best, mate
My memories are hazy on this, but I'm sure I recall Harry Maguire being one of the most creative central defenders in the PL last season - if not the most creative, involved in something like 15 goals all told?
Either way, suggesting he isn't an excellent ball-playing CB is a mistruth. He's been nowhere near his best this season, that is an absolute given, but let's not rewrite history to push an agenda, eh?
Yeah, he's been all over the shop this season, there's no escaping that.
You could argue that this happens because the options/movements ahead of him are often disorganized/random/non-existent. Which is the sign of a team that isn't well drilled (at all). Maguire obviously isn't good enough individually to transcend a dysfunctional setup.
Then again, you could certainly also argue that Maguire's decision making isn't good enough - he shouldn't rush out the way he does (with or without the ball) in certain situations; he's better off staying back, being more patient, etc.
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