You can kid yourself that he's all of a sudden a great player. He is doing well because we are so porous in midfield and it let's him defend on the back foot and react to things. We know hes good at that. As soon as we fix the midfield and expect the defenders to build our play he will look out of his depth again.
5
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
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- Clean sheets
- 6
- Goals
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- Assists
- 2
- Yellow cards
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You can kid yourself that he's all of a sudden a great player. He is doing well because we are so porous in midfield and it let's him defend on the back foot and react to things. We know hes good at that. As soon as we fix the midfield and expect the defenders to build our play he will look out of his depth again.
I’m not kidding anyone. You’re the one being dramatic.
He is what he is. He’s also playing well.
End of story.
Surely you understand that I am referring to his first two seasons at the club when he was a lot better than he is now???
That's my worry. He played alright against the mighty Brentford, Fulham, Luton and Sheffield. Enough to land a new fat contract. This was enough to convince most on here that he has turned it around, easier things are needed to be done to convince the board.
I've read that first sentence about 5 times and still don't know what point you are trying to make. How about we support one of our own players who has been through a tough time but instead of sulking or forcing a move, has got his head down and fought for his place back? It's almost like you are annoyed that he is playing well... You are of course entitled to an opinion and not everyone has to rate him but the way Maguire has handled himself this season has to be applauded regardless of your thoughts on him.
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More than 50% of our games are against these types of sides. If he's a big asset in those fixtures sign him up. It's not like there are existing CBS in abundance who are more consistent than that. Saliba, VDV, VDV, and probably the city pairing. That's about it.
I wish half of our players could play alright against Brentford, Fulham, Luton and Sheffield.
The point I'm making is that he is still our 4th or 5th best centre back and a lot seem to have forgotten that on the back of a handful of good performances. We're currently playing in a way that suits him but we desperately need to change that style.
He's done well to come back from adversity. Still nowhere near good enough for what we want to be though.
And that's a fine opinion to have, I'm sure others will agree with you. But the reality is, on form / availability - he is comfortably 1st choice centre back so we may as well get behind him rather than doom mongering (especially after a victory and good performance from him!!).
Getting over excited for a short burst of form is precisely why we're stuck with so much deadwood on massive wages, and Maguire is approaching renewal time in a few months.
Yup, i've also noticed this. The notion that we should hold on to players because they can "do a job" as there are more pressing matters to fix can be detrimental to the cause. You can keep them, but, then, don't act surprised if you see more and more players raising their game toward the end of their contracts and/or if mediocre players decide to throw managers under the bus. It's not exclusive to Maguire, of course, who deserves a bit of sympathy for the online ridicule he has to suffer. But i have this image in my mind: Five years down the line, no matter who the manager or the new owner is and either due to injuries or a hectic schedule, there'll be a game (or two) in which United will field a back-four consisting of AWB-Maguire-Lindelof-Dalot. And we'll still be trying to figure out what we're doing wrong.
Do not give him a new contract, jesus.
Seems like a massive overreach from yourself. Calling a spade a spade, to the positive and negative is what this club and the fanbase struggle to do. We've been in doldrums so long, there's a very skewed perception of what doing well or poorly is. To only extract the poor, or condemn ever more is not objective reasoning and whilst you're entitled to not be objective, it defeats the purpose of a performance thread, the very definition of real time assessment, to be perpetually damning of any player.
Airing thoughts that he mightn't be good enough, period, would be for another part of the forum because it pays no mind to what is happening in real time where he is performing well enough to be singled out for praise or at least acknowledgement.
Incidentally, both things can be true and run in parallel: he mightn't be good enough ultimately and at the same time be playing well. It just comes across as sour or agenda driven to give him no credit at a time when the majority of our players have been atrocities whilst Maguire has not. He was singled out for criticism last season and the one before for his horrendous blunders and there's no reason not to single him out and state he's playing well now.
And surely the time to assess whether this is flash in the pan or solely because of the level of opposition is after the data comes in against a number of stronger teams - like in the upcoming run of games?
Maguire's nerves seemed to be absolutely shot to pieces and with that, he didn't even look like a United CB, but as he is now, the determination is whether he can be a starter in our strongest lineups, or if he is only fit to be a rotation option. As opposed to before, he definitely serves a purpose at this moment in time and has shown he belongs in one capacity or another; previously he did enough to earn himself a one way ticket out the door. Redemption arcs are real, to what extent Maguire's can go to remains to be seen, but summarily dismissing him just isn't what this thread is about.
Gotta protect those assets!
To be fair he’s easily been our best player this season. Grim but fair. I’m really happy to see him or anyone doing well. I think if he’d have gone to West Ham and played like this and we were in our current situation we would look stupid yet again. Nobdoy is denying he was shocking for the last two seasons but he’s nowhere near as bad as he was made out to be on average. He’s a good solid PL player who always tries his best and his top level is very good. The main problem at United is getting more than one player playing really well at any one time whatever the hell that is about
To be fair he’s easily been our best player this season. Grim but fair. I’m really happy to see him or anyone doing well. I think if he’d have gone to West Ham and played like this and we were in our current situation we would look stupid yet again. Nobdoy is denying he was shocking for the last two seasons but he’s nowhere near as bad as he was made out to be on average. He’s a good solid PL player who always tries his best and his top level is very good. The main problem at United is getting more than one player playing really well at any one time whatever the hell that is about
I am assessing his current performances. Through injuries and being a bit shit we have reverted to playing reactionary football that suits him perfectly. I give credit to him for getting over his confidence issues but he is playing very well in a style that is perfect for him, and a style that we don't want to play. I've seen nothing that suggests he is any closer to being suitable for more progressive football.
But is that the caveat you're using for the rest of the team? It's an additional criteria that I think hardly any of these players, playing as we are, can be assessed by.
Maguire's a chief contributor in us being competitive so far as the table goes. Until we actually try and play good football, I don't know what purpose it serves to say he's not doing well, when he clearly is.
If we do well in 50% of games but not so much against half decent opponents, midtable is where we end up. From what I have seen, we have beaten relegation candidates and have lost against all half decent teams. So yes, maybe we can do with an upgrade.
Absolutely it is. Its why for example I think Hojlund has had a good start despite 0 goals and Antony has more potential than he is currently showing, and why Rashford needs to be transitioned out of the team. We need to build for long term even if it costs us a season or two and in particular a proper functioning midfield will transform a number of our players, some for the better and some not.
Ten Hag has said we cant get the routines right when the lineup is changing so often. Maguire is always going to make that process harder because we have to play around his limitations.
Very pleased for the guy.
Yes he is far from ideal and sometimes looks a bit clumsy.
But I certainly can not fault his spirit and determination to get back into the United team.
Yes he is far from ideal and sometimes looks a bit clumsy.
But I certainly can not fault his spirit and determination to get back into the United team.
Brentford, Fulham, Wolves aren't relegation candidates this year. Nor are Everton when we play them next.
When is he due a new contract?
Maguire needs to work on getting the ball out his feet quicker. He can actually hit a not bad long pass at times, but he takes too many touches and allows teams to reset.
This isn’t just a Maguire thing either. Too many of our players take too long to get the ball moving.
This isn’t just a Maguire thing either. Too many of our players take too long to get the ball moving.
Redemption complete
Adongo concluded his speech to Parliament with a 10-minute rant on how Rashford and Bruno need to be dropped…
Maguire continues to make errors and Southgate’s patience may run out with the emergence of Marc Guéhi
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...uire-england-gareth-southgate-north-macedonia
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...uire-england-gareth-southgate-north-macedonia
I see he brought out his trademark 
. The composed pass to the opposition or straight out of play. Always love how composed, and technically gifted he looks when he does these. It's actually hilarious.
. The composed pass to the opposition or straight out of play. Always love how composed, and technically gifted he looks when he does these. It's actually hilarious. Of all the realities we could've ended up in.This dude is our go to for Harry Maguire's form. Some say he is responsible for Maguire's turn around.
The obvious next step
Hes got plenty of flack over the international break for the same reasons he has done here. Constantly slowing the tempo of the game and others around him. Seems contagious. He simply has no urgency in his game.
The praise for him has been completely over the top
Better that than completely slaughtering the guy.
The obvious next step
Silly comment
How so?
It is a bit strange to see. He had a diabolical period where he became a meme because he was doing meme worthy things. Now he plays like a defender who can play in the Premier League (still not good enough for a title contender in my opinion) and people make it seem like he went from zero to hero. It might be that he looked so hopeless that the idea that he would ever look like a capable player for Manchester United again was unthinkable before the season.
It is actually quite unfair that Harry Maguire only has to play acceptable to complete his redemption arc but i suppose his nationality helps with that.
Did his nationality contribute to all the bile and hate that he had to endure?
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