To be honest, he's playing like a distracted man. This is the roughest patch of form I think he's gone through at United. Personally I think it would have been an opportune moment to pull him out for a few games and get him right but with Varane injured the prospects are bleak if we can't get an immediate tune out of Maguire.
Metro: Harry Maguire feeling strain of Manchester United captaincy
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Keane would have committed war crimes against our own squad by now so definitely fits that description.
Elias, maybe Ronaldo? He won’t get angry with teammates but will be disappointed in them.
Sadly we have Maguire as O’Neill
We all know who the real captains of the team are. Maguire only has it in an official capacity because Ole's too nice to strip him of it.
The metro??? Id have been more inclined to believe it if you put that fairies came and whispered in your ear while you riding a unicorn through fields of mint flavoured candy floss as your source.
Horrendous to sign him at the fee compounding it with the captaincy was ridiculous. Has never been worthy.
The story could be bollocks but it kind of looks like it’s true on the pitch. From the outside looking in there is absolutely nothing about him that screams leader. Imagine turning to his gormless face for direction or inspiration.
I always pity multimillionaires who are not good enough at their job but cannot admit it and hand over the responsibility to someone suitable for it.
If legit then it's amazing. Bruno should've been the captain once he started performing and now it's clear Ronnie should be.
We were in a proper state when Maguire joined though, let's not forget.
We were in a proper state when Maguire joined though, let's not forget.
Absolute nonsense. Of all news outlets, the Metro exclusively breaks the news that Maguire is feeling the strain of captaining us. Oh yeah, so he wasn’t feeling it after getting arrested in Greece and losing 1-6, while costing his team 2 goals, in his 3rd game back? How about getting sent off for his country right after? Even if he is feeling it, the Metro certainly wouldn’t be the first to know.
That’s not to say that he should be captaining this team though. The captaincy should have gone to De Gea in 2020. End of. The only legendary figure at the club at the time. If he’s not a leader, then I don’t know what Maguire is. He exudes absolutely no confidence, let alone arrogance which captains of top clubs need. It’s too far gone under Ole now, but the next manager would do well to strip him of the captaincy and hand it to Ronaldo, with vice captaincy going to Bruno. You can see that the dressing room looks to them as the leaders.
That’s not to say that he should be captaining this team though. The captaincy should have gone to De Gea in 2020. End of. The only legendary figure at the club at the time. If he’s not a leader, then I don’t know what Maguire is. He exudes absolutely no confidence, let alone arrogance which captains of top clubs need. It’s too far gone under Ole now, but the next manager would do well to strip him of the captaincy and hand it to Ronaldo, with vice captaincy going to Bruno. You can see that the dressing room looks to them as the leaders.
It’s nonsense but people will lap it up despite the fact he’s a good player on form and a decent captain too. A stupid amount of short termism on this board.,
De Gea is not and never will be a captain. At the very best of times a keeper should never ever be captain let alone someone as quiet and meek as De Gea. It’s always been a silly notion based on historic success.
Everyone should be captains on the pitch anyway, aside from official stuff like talking to the ref. Casillas and Buffon captained their clubs for ages and I think you’d agree that they didn’t do too badly.
And I agree DDG is never a captain, hence why I’m not suggesting he gets it now. I’m saying that he was the best option of a bad bunch (people wanted Pogba to get it, but we know that should never happen). Whatever about their leadership skills, something Maguire lacks as well, De Gea already had legend status while Maguire was a former Hull and Leicester defender who showed no sign of being respected by the dressing room (still doesn’t now), and was 6 months into his United career.
Grows? Lad's been unofficial captain for two years now, only thing lacking is the armband around his upper arm.
I’m sure he’d have been superb for City and had no issues collecting honours.
Nobody told him to make a whatsapp group. Moderating WA groups is a pain in the arse.
How so?
Players like Ronaldo, bruno, varanne, pogba even shaw wont look at him for directions or guidance off the pitch, and rightly so.
Coordination on the pitch is the most they'll look to the captain for some sort of command but other than that...
It's like asking pep to learn from ole.
Normally a long tenured senior players have some sort of authority even against better younger player they still command some respect out of that. But ronaldo, varanne? Looking up yo maguire? You're having a laugh. If maguire can even bark at them without pissing his pants that'll be great.
Stupid decision to give him the armband
Coordination on the pitch is the most they'll look to the captain for some sort of command but other than that...
It's like asking pep to learn from ole.
Normally a long tenured senior players have some sort of authority even against better younger player they still command some respect out of that. But ronaldo, varanne? Looking up yo maguire? You're having a laugh. If maguire can even bark at them without pissing his pants that'll be great.
Stupid decision to give him the armband
Regardless of the Metro article Maguire should man up and resign the captaincy or even better put in a written transfer request!
Had a good season, made a captain, made a WA group, news reporting about how he has handled the leadership well and then the first thing he did after that was to went go Greece in the middle of pandemic, had a fight involving police. Dumb dumb.
He doesn't seem very bright or engaging in interviews (some will say this is common among footballers) either. He just comes across as a simple and uninteresting guy. He doesn't have the personality for the role he's been handed
Firstly, it’s a nonsense article with no verifiable sources.
Secondly, let’s assume it’s true. Just for shits and giggles. So what if he is feeling the strain? It’s a big responsibility and there’s nothing wrong with feeling the pressure. It’s how you handle it that counts. I feel the strain of responsibility at work all the time. The massive weight of responsibility of being a CEO of a hard hit company, all the jobs relying on my decisions, keeps me awake at night. It doesn’t stop me being fecking good at my job. You’re almost inhuman if you don’t feel the strain when times are tough. It’s how you respond that counts.
Unlike so many posters in here, my memory is longer than a few games. The, frankly stupid, Maguire needs to be replaced thread shows just how fickle fans are. Maguire has been an excellent performer for us, and yes, he’s having a bad season. But so is most of the squad. There is no structure or organisation in the team and the defence has no protection. It’s a testament to his character, in my opinion, that he rushed back so fast from injury to put himself in the firing line, when he’s clearly coming back to a sinking ship, while struggling for fitness.
He’s been good for most of his time here snd he’ll be good again. He’s not Virgil Van Dijk, but who the feck is? Harry Maguire isn’t our problem, the team set up is. Frankly this incessant need to find a scapegoat is just symptomatic of a desperation to vent frustration and identify a simple, quick fix to all that ails us.
The reality is that the team needs an identity, systems of play, and far more tactical nouse than relying on individual brilliance. The squad has deficits but it is still a very good squad which is clearly under performing at this point in time. At least one top class defensive midfielder/playmaker is required, but a top class manager would still have enough playing resources at his disposal to make this team both hard to beat and dangerous going forward, without spending any money.
You could swap Pogba for a Rice and you’d have a much better balanced team, but when push comes to shove if the players don’t truly know what they are supposed to be doing, they’ll still play like shit.
Secondly, let’s assume it’s true. Just for shits and giggles. So what if he is feeling the strain? It’s a big responsibility and there’s nothing wrong with feeling the pressure. It’s how you handle it that counts. I feel the strain of responsibility at work all the time. The massive weight of responsibility of being a CEO of a hard hit company, all the jobs relying on my decisions, keeps me awake at night. It doesn’t stop me being fecking good at my job. You’re almost inhuman if you don’t feel the strain when times are tough. It’s how you respond that counts.
Unlike so many posters in here, my memory is longer than a few games. The, frankly stupid, Maguire needs to be replaced thread shows just how fickle fans are. Maguire has been an excellent performer for us, and yes, he’s having a bad season. But so is most of the squad. There is no structure or organisation in the team and the defence has no protection. It’s a testament to his character, in my opinion, that he rushed back so fast from injury to put himself in the firing line, when he’s clearly coming back to a sinking ship, while struggling for fitness.
He’s been good for most of his time here snd he’ll be good again. He’s not Virgil Van Dijk, but who the feck is? Harry Maguire isn’t our problem, the team set up is. Frankly this incessant need to find a scapegoat is just symptomatic of a desperation to vent frustration and identify a simple, quick fix to all that ails us.
The reality is that the team needs an identity, systems of play, and far more tactical nouse than relying on individual brilliance. The squad has deficits but it is still a very good squad which is clearly under performing at this point in time. At least one top class defensive midfielder/playmaker is required, but a top class manager would still have enough playing resources at his disposal to make this team both hard to beat and dangerous going forward, without spending any money.
You could swap Pogba for a Rice and you’d have a much better balanced team, but when push comes to shove if the players don’t truly know what they are supposed to be doing, they’ll still play like shit.
The Rash embodies United more than pretty much anyone we have on here. Give the armband to Bruno for a few seasons while Rashford matures then give it to him.
I think it depends. A Casillas or Neuer or Schmeichel works as captain because they have the personality and fire for it. Not saying De Gea has it, but it's not beyond the realms of possibility.
Well if your memory is longer than a few games you should remember Maguire being an ever present last year when our defense was historically atrocious. He has big weaknesses as a defender which are amplified when playing with De Gea. Yes our biggest problem is our coaching but that doesn't absolve Maguire completely.
I started the Maguire needs to be replaced thread and it actually had two titles before the current one. He needs to be replaced as captain and as a permanent starter. I think both of those are necessary. Now the third iteration of he needs to be replaced full stop can be argued either way.
Bruno should have got it instead of Slab anyway.
FC Ronnie
Your argument does not address the point that the defensive record has as much or more to do with the systems in place than the personnel. It’s also factually incorrect. Last year we conceded 44 goals, 9 of which came in the first two games when we’d had no preseason. Across the remaining 36 we had one of the top three defensive records in the division. So “historically atrocious” is just factually incorrect. The season before we conceded just 36 goals. Three more than the PL champs. But I am assuming you don’t want to deal in facts.
Congratulations on starting that thread and even coming up with two brand new titles. You must be very proud of yourself. Indeed your phrase “historically atrocious” is remarkably apt when that thread is viewed in context of the forum; and that is quite an achievement.
Evra on Solskjaer: " You're the architect of your problems. On your resumption at the club, you sold the club top striker Lukaku without replacing him, instead you signed a defender and immediately gave him arm band (Captain)."
Evra: "You lost the control of dressing room from the day you gave Harry Maguire captain. It's not done anywhere in the world.
Evra: "Club football is different to national team, exchanging of arm band is based on seniority. Ronaldo left Man utd as the best player in the world, Madrid never give him even assistant Captain. Iker casillas left Real Madrid as Captain and Spanish Captain, FC Porto never give him Captain and so on."
Evra: “Maguire, the captain. How many years has he been at Manchester United? Just one. It shows that the club don’t have any leaders to win trophies."
Evra: "You lost the control of dressing room from the day you gave Harry Maguire captain. It's not done anywhere in the world.
Evra: "Club football is different to national team, exchanging of arm band is based on seniority. Ronaldo left Man utd as the best player in the world, Madrid never give him even assistant Captain. Iker casillas left Real Madrid as Captain and Spanish Captain, FC Porto never give him Captain and so on."
Evra: “Maguire, the captain. How many years has he been at Manchester United? Just one. It shows that the club don’t have any leaders to win trophies."
True, but he also shat himself for a pen when his idol was standing next to him.
One of the worst players in United history
He is the new Prunier
He is the new Prunier
You say in your first sentence the defense has as much or more to do with the systems then vomit out defensive stats to defend Maguire. Last year we conceded 28 goals at home, the worst in 58 years. We also like you mention conceded 44 goals in the league which is 2nd worst in the last 20 years. So historically atrocious is apt. Maguire has been one of the worst defenders in the division this season. Which of these facts do you have a problem with?
The point about the thread name changes is the vast majority now agree with question 1, a majority agree on question 2 and we are about 50/50 on question 3.
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Maguire's biggest issue is his lack of pace coupled by the fact that he isn't gifted with great positioning. That wouldn't be that much of an issue in a defense that plays deep and in numbers but at this level clubs are forced to play with a high line.
Exactly and his keeper and manager don't help him in this regard.
All of them, because you fail to contextualise the data. Which isn’t surprising as your posts are grounded in hysterical hyperbole.
DDG has been around (and bailing managers off) since before Ole and the entire defense. The manager had the choice to either sell him or build a defense around him. The former went out of the window when the current administration (Ole included) gave him an eye watering 19m a year contract. The later could be done after the club allowed Ole to invest another eye watering 180m solely on defense. Asking DDG to play like a sweeper GK is like asking Scholes to start tackling like Roy Keane or Ronaldo to work as hard as Ji Sung Park. Its also like asking Maguire to start running like prime Rio did. It's never going to happen.
The thing is, he doesn't tell them jack shit. I don't see him making a whole lot of noise anyway when he plays, he's not shouting out commands on corners, or yelling for the defense to step up or whatever, and when he does say something, it looks like no one is listening to him. And why would they? That's the problem: Shaw doesn't need him to tel him how to play fullback, Varane and Lindelof and even Mad Bailly are not looking to Maguire to figure out their game, and the midfield have their backs to him and don't care anyway. Lastly, if Maguire is telling Ronaldo and Cavani anything other than, "May I take your coat, sir?" they are just going to laugh at him.
We had several players captaining the side at the same time in Rio's last few seasons. Him, Vidic, Evra, Rooney, even Ronaldo and Fletcher were captains from time to time. Why this reliance on one player being a Captain of men, is beyond me. Basically the captain does the coin toss and that's about all they're good for. The only times when it might become crucial is when we are getting our asses kicked and the players look for someone to save them. That person would be Ronaldo or Bruno, not Maguire. With Maguire, it's just decoration.
I don't agree with the 'historically atrocious' argument however some context is necessary here. Ole played with 6 defensive minded players + two FBs who can hardly be described as attacking minded. That's a huge defensive unit. This year Maguire's lack of pace is being targeted which is why he's looking so bad. It doesn't help that Ole loves to play players to the ground which means that Maguire had been thrown in the deep end without barely any match fitness whatsoever.
Picking a set of games that suits your narrative may be dealing in facts on technicality but it certainly isn’t in the spirit of the saying.
P.S. the current Maguire bashing is obviously an overreaction that’s very natural to caf. You’re on the other side of the spectrum though which isn’t much better.