[Still ill]

Yeah, agree with most in here. He was sorely needed in those last 15 minutes or so and did really well but it stresses me out seeing him in possession, womble forward 40 yards, see all options gradually close down, then pass it into a blind alley or to the opposition. It's no sort of a reprieve for him. He hasn't got a future here under this manager.

 

[berbatrick]

Not great on the ball - I think Varane's last few games have had ridiculously good passing and this was a serious drop-off. And some worrying moments when he got turned.
But - fantastic in the last 10 minutes when defending the box.

 

[Kag]

I’m pleased for him; he needed that.

With that said, it’s hard not to notice how horribly ponderous on the ball he can be. Varane is hardly the world’s slickest, but he passes with much more purpose and vim.

 

[DickDastardly]

Wasn’t very good when we had more of the ball and were pressing high in the first half. Tends to delay on the ball and invite pressure.

Much better when we were under the cosh though. Suits him a lot better and he’s excellent defending those scenarios.

Yeah, we don't want that now do we.

One could say it's him that makes us get under that same cosh....

 

[AltiUn]

He was good defensively but he was so unbelievably sloppy on the ball. I think he was trying to emulate Martinez, Varane and Lindelof but he’s just nowhere near good enough on the ball.

 

[pierrethesnack]

Thought he was poor....

He was, but that's an important improvement from totally disastrous. A player having a poor game can still be a bit useful and not outright lose us the game.

 

[Solius]

Yeah, we don't want that now do we.

One could say it's him that makes us get under that same cosh....

Not really. The whole team were poor second half and almost every player gave it away. They were always going to rally late on when it stayed 1 - 0.

 

[Doracle]

He adds a bit to our game with his passing through the lines. Some really nice passes into Ronaldo in the second half. Thought he was generally good. Nothing to suggest he should start ahead of Varane but good to have him back as an option.

 

[T_Model101]

Very good defensively today when Moyes inevitably tried to emulate that Fulham game, throwing the crosses in

 

[Litch]

He was, but that's an important improvement from totally disastrous. A player having a poor game can still be a bit useful and not outright lose us the game.

Yep, when you lower your expectation of players, certainly. I just expect more from the club captain.

 

[DickDastardly]

Not really. The whole team were poor second half and almost every player gave it away. They were always going to rally late on when it stayed 1 - 0.

Sure, but i'm not talking just about todays game.

He lacks confidence, and as such, makes the team lose confidence...

His passing is subpar and certainly contributes to the team loss of possession.

Sure, they were always gonna get that last 10 minutes push, and, he did alright, but it's an anomaly.

Get the same player in the same team and replay the same 10 minutes of pressure, 8 out of 10 times we concede. With out a question.

 

[Elcabron]

His best performance in a long time but coming from a very low base. He was never going to come back in and not be rusty. But I thought he was good overall and his height was very important today. I didn't notice his passing being as poor as some of above posts suggest.

I thought Ronaldo being in the side today was a much bigger draw on our overall performance than Maguire.

 

[Solius]

Sure, but i'm not talking just about todays game.

He lacks confidence, and as such, makes the team lose confidence...

His passing is subpar and certainly contributes to the team loss of possession.

Sure, they were always gonna get that last 10 minutes push, and, he did alright, but it's an anomaly.

Get the same player in the same team and replay the same 10 minutes of pressure, 8 out of 10 times we concede. With out a question.

I was talking about today’s game. I’m aware he’s not good enough.

 

[criticalanalysis]

Didn't do that much wrong, but I don't think it's any coincidence that as soon as he's back in the lineup, we're back to relying on De Gea heroics to save us again.

To be fair, it was always going to be a tough game against West Ham. Varane would have been better and perhaps we would have had more control but the players are clearly tired, so they couldn't press/counter press as effectively. I'm a bit worried about the fatigue tbh.

I thought Maguire was nervous and lucky not to concede or get carded first half. Some decent passes between the lines in the second half, some mixed bag stuff and then was good the last 10-20 as we defended in our box.

 

[Trex]

I think he created unease throughout the whole team by being ponderous on the ball.
And then defensively its clear he can't defend space. We play a system were defending counter attack is the main threat we'll face so he doesn't really fit.
He was good when we were under the cosh though, but we don't want to be under those circumstances.

 

[A-man]

I thought he was horrible when we were in command. He made poor decisions, missed tackles, got caught out, slow on the ball etc. Good at clearing the ball when we were pressed at the end of the match.

 

[Strelok]

His best performance in a long time but coming from a very low base. He was never going to come back in and not be rusty. But I thought he was good overall and his height was very important today. I didn't notice his passing being as poor as some of above posts suggest.

I thought Ronaldo being in the side today was a much bigger draw on our overall performance than Maguire.

His passing is always decent. Problem is the tempo. Today he took much less time to take a decision than usual but still not fast enough. Then one or two instances he was fast enough he fecked up the passing. And he needs to stop thinking he's Scholes reborn with those long passes.

Anyway he was ok today imo. Didn't make any major mistake and was really good in the last 15' when we were pushed back and had to defend with our lives. He has some use for that scenario but frankly not suited for the style we're playing. Playing him in a high line high tempo game is simply asking for troubles imo.

Agree on the Ronaldo part though.

 

[crossy1686]

Varane should be worried

Worried about his knee injury, but nothing else

 

[Djemba-Djemba]

I think most have it right in here, he just looked awkward for most of the game and unsuited to how we want to play.

But then in the last 20 minutes when it was all West Ham and we had to park the bus he was very good and made some great blocks and tackles.

Hopefully his confidence starts to increase over the next few games, ultimately I think he should be sold next summer but as long as he's here let's hope he plays well.

 

[TheRedDevil'sAdvocate]

He did OK after all this time. A bit cumbersome at times and ponderous on the ball, but that's who he is as a player. I thought that he would collapse mentally after he almost got exposed twice in the first half and he started pointing fingers and shouting at his teammates again. But he kept his cool and did his part in the final 20 minutes when we were on the ropes and he was really needed.

I said the other day when he came on in the RCB position that it was an interesting move from ETH. I think this is the best way to use him, away from the left side on which we rely so much to build attacks (with Martinez, Shaw, Rashford) and thus we need quick and decisive passing. My main criticism of him is that, even in his better second half, there were times when he had time and space to control the ball and help us keep possession, but he kept clearing the ball and giving it back to WHU.

I guess that his price tag and the fact that he involuntarily became "the face" of the previous failed regime (just like Fellaini under Moyes) is the monkey on his back that he will never get rid of. Besides that, as my scouser friend i was watching the game with said, when you're not playing well, your energy levels are low and the opposition is throwing the kitchen sink in, you will gladly take this type of performance from your 4th centre-half and happily move on to the next game with three points and the clean sheet in the bag. Because, if we take all the rest away, that's where Maguire stands in the pecking order.

 

[Kostov]

Just give the guy some fecking credit. If it was Martinez saving our ass like Harry did today, the same miserable souls will be wanking themselves to death. Yeah we can all see how devoid of confidence he is, missed some tackles and so what ? So did Martinez and his passing was equally as good as Lisandro’s. The guy needed a break and a bit of luck this game hopefully brings him some self belief, he is better than what we have seen today.

 

[Massive Spanner]

I think we all know his future probably lies elsewhere but to see criticism like that after such a solid performance in which we got a clean sheet is just lame. Can’t fecking win with some morons.

 

[Luka Mora]

Understandable for the slow start considering how long he's been out for, being rusty and low on confidence but grew into the game and made some vital tackles and clearances. Could do with avoiding dwelling on the ball for too long but other than that solid defensive performance.

 

[UnofficialDevil]

He is on key player wages. He will never be good enough as first choice centre back, can't pay those kind of wages for someone to be a back up so he has to be sold. Simple.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

Think he was far too on his own head in the first half... Could almost physically see him second guessing every decision he had to make.

Second half he seemed far more relaxed into his natural game... Namely getting his big oaf self in the way of things

 

[Deery]

Still think he’s a disaster waiting to happen, did okay I suppose when the whole team was defending but wouldn’t go over the top praising him for it the either..

 

[Abraxas]

A couple of dodgy moments, a clumsy challenge or two near our box that he got away with and a few stray passes. But by and large, considering the pressure he was under with all eyes on him I thought he did okay against a good side.

 

[Andersons Dietician]

First half looked about how you would expect a Harry Maguire to look, nervy, clumsy but 2nd half when we were sitting back and under siege it allowed his qualities to come through. Winning headers and putting his body about.

That last 30 was made for him and he performed well I felt.

 

[Lyng]

Weird game for Harry. He was a major problem for us when we where playing high today. Constantly being out of position and slow on the ball. But then in the second half when we standing far back defending, he was excellent.

 

[Abraxas]

Weird game for Harry. He was a major problem for us when we where playing high today. Constantly being out of position and slow on the ball. But then in the second half when we standing far back defending, he was excellent.

To be fair this is probably about what we'd expect given his skillset isn't it? We kinda know what he's about at this stage. Good at defending the box, bad at defending space.

 

[Lay]

He sold himself a couple of times. Didn't need to be that rash. Him doing so well in the last 15 minutes because that's his bread and butter, he's a low block defender.

 

[Lyng]

To be fair this is probably about what we'd expect given his skillset isn't it? We kinda know what he's about at this stage. Good at defending the box, bad at defending space.

Pretty much yes. But I was still happy to see that he was putting in a dominant performance when the style suited him. His confidence must be affected by now, so I was happy he had a good end to the game today.

 

[Bobski]

I think we all know his future probably lies elsewhere but to see criticism like that after such a solid performance in which we got a clean sheet is just lame. Can’t fecking win with some morons.

It is the nature of fandom now. We already know that Maguire isn't good enough long term, that debate is pretty much over but a lot of fans don't seem to realize that and thus you get the hyperbolic scapegoating and refusal to give any credit as if in doing so it is admitting an opinion was wrong, so just double down, double down, double down...

 

[Elcabron]

His passing is always decent. Problem is the tempo. Today he took much less time to take a decision than usual but still not fast enough. Then one or two instances he was fast enough he fecked up the passing. And he needs to stop thinking he's Scholes reborn with those long passes.

Anyway he was ok today imo. Didn't make any major mistake and was really good in the last 15' when we were pushed back and had to defend with our lives. He has some use for that scenario but frankly not suited for the style we're playing. Playing him in a high line high tempo game is simply asking for troubles imo.

Agree on the Ronaldo part though.

That's fair enough and I don't think we should keep him for what it's worth. Ideally Newcastle or Chelsea would come in for him in the summer. For his sake and ours as he doesn't get in ahead of Varane and Martinez. He's too expensive to have sitting on the bench and to be fair to him he is well capable of playing in upper table PL team.

Hope he kicks on from here, has a great WC and puts himself in shop window.

 

[Escobar]

I thought he was horrible when we were in command. He made poor decisions, missed tackles, got caught out, slow on the ball etc. Good at clearing the ball when we were pressed at the end of the match.

Agreed. His weaknesses were exploited today, but he defended well in the last 10 mins

 

[Strelok]

That's fair enough and I don't think we should keep him for what it's worth. Ideally Newcastle or Chelsea would come in for him in the summer. For his sake and ours as he doesn't get in ahead of Varane and Martinez. He's too expensive to have sitting on the bench and to be fair to him he is well capable of playing in upper table PL team.

Hope he kicks on from here, has a great WC and puts himself in shop window.

Agree let's hope it's the case.

Tbh I always feel a bit for him because of the amount of abuses he got from our own fans and football fans in general. He's almost a meme now. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve that but still a bit too much imo. He's a pretty decent modern CB, just not suited to the style we're playing now.

 

[M Bison]

I can’t help but feel sorry for him. It’s not like Rashford or Shaw, who looked poor last season but felt there was still a player there, the more I see of Martinez and/or Varane, the more he seems a few levels below.

He did ok in the game, but just felt less controlled with him vs Varane.

 

[Foxbatt]

It's unfair to compare him to Varane. He is a solid CB in a mid table team. He is good in a low block team. Jose wanted him because of that . I have no idea why Ole bought him. I thought he did good today though.

 

[Member 125352]

Yep mixed when we were in command but when the going got tough he became a warrior and he was rather useful in the 2nd half. Good game

 

[Pickle85]

Decent backup CB.