Manchester United captain Harry Maguire has come under heavy criticism following his unforgettable display in the 2021/22 campaign, as previously reported by United Radar. Ten Hag broke silence on the decision to drop the skipper for Raphaël Verane.
The boss has preferred the center back pair of Lisandro Martinez and Verane. As a result, Maguire has struggled for game time in the ten Hag era.
Surprisingly, Maguire received call up from Gareth Southgate to represent England in the World Cup, and has performed up to the standards alongside John Stones.
Harry indicated his wishes retain his place in the starting line-up in the aftermath of his excellent World Cup performance. The Mirror quoted Maguire:
“I’ve played every game and I’m proud of my mentality to prove to myself again – I don’t need to prove to others – but at the moment, I don’t look at myself.”
Maguire added: “I look at the team and every time I put this shirt on, I want the team to do well. Listen I’d have much preferred to have had a bad game against France and gone through.”
The Englishman was in good shape and ten Hag is hoping he will replicate his England form to club level. According to Daily Mail, the boss said:
“I can only back him. It’s clear he is good enough to play at the highest level. Then it is up to him to show that confidence on the pitch, and he didn’t show that in all the games.”
“He had a period in Manchester where he performed badly and then, of course, there are difficulties. For England, he has good games almost all the time.”
“We want him to bring that back to Manchester with him so he can bring it on the pitch for Manchester United.”
“I expect from him and the team knows what they expect from him. If he does that, he will be a great player for us.”
“I think he had a really good World Cup. He was really consistent. When he is playing with his confidence like now, he is a massively important player for us and that is what everyone expects.”
“We are prepared for every situation – if players have success, if they don’t have success,” he uttered.
“There will be some who are really happy and some will come back really disappointed and some can be in between. I’m really happy with the performances of all our players.”
The Dutchman further spoke on his bold decision to start Varane ahead of Maguire. TEAMtalk quoted the remarks of ten Hag:
“When I choose Rapha it is nothing against Harry,” Ten Hag stressed. “Sometimes it is because one player is a lot better than the other. But I think I have two or three good players there in the right centre-back position.
“After Brentford, I chose. I had a feeling I had to change there – personal but I had to change the mentality. He was unlucky that moment was bad for him but it doesn’t say anything about his quality that he can’t do it or my opinion about his quality.”
“Rapha came in and is doing a good job. There are laws of the game in top football – you have to take your chance. Your chance will always come.”
“The only thing he (Maguire) has to do is train well, perform well, he has games, he has rhythm and his chance will come. He will have a chance to show it and then he’s in and he will play.”
“That (rarely picking Maguire) was nothing against him. Varane and Lindelof, I’m in a good position because they are consistent and stable and our centre halves have a really high level.”
