Harry Maguire will miss Manchester United’s derby against Manchester City due to an injury sustained while on England duty.
Harry Maguire will not play in Sunday’s Manchester derby, and if Jamie Carragher has his way, the England defender may never wear the famous Manchester United shirt again. Maguire continues to divide opinion at Old Trafford and elsewhere like no other.
Even if the injury hadn’t intervened, the £80m captain would almost certainly have been named on the bench against Manchester City, where Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez are attempting to contain Norway sensation, Erling Haaland. Many defenders have failed before them, but will the United duo be successful?
Maguire, who has been ruled out due to injury, will be heading and kicking every ball from the stands. Even the most vocal anti-Maguire critic would admit that the player needs a little bit of luck – or perhaps guidance – from somewhere.
While on England duty, Maguire received the support of Gareth Southgate. However, errors beneath the famous arch at Wembley against Germany brought him under scrutiny once more, and Carragher was among the most scathing pundits in his Telegraph column.
Carragher stated: “My question for Maguire is, do you have the same rage? Too often, he appears to be carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, as if he’s a startled bunny rather than the commanding center-back he once was ” At the club level, I believe it is too late. Last year, I wrote that he was fighting for his Manchester United career.
He needs this to be his final season at Old Trafford before moving on. It is now England’s problem. “I felt sorry for Maguire after watching him in the last two games.” ” That’s not a good look for any athlete. Sympathy will not restore him to his former self.”
While Carragher’s words are harsh at best, United manager Ten Hag disagrees with the former Liverpool man. “First and foremost, I have to coach him, and I have to back him, but I back him because I believe in him,” the Dutchman recently said of his captain. Pre-season was good, really good, training and in games, so he fell out, but it’s also to do with the good performances of the center-backs who are currently playing.
“I can see the qualities, and even when he wasn’t on the team, he trained well, and more importantly, the quality was there. You can see from his career, almost 50 caps for England, [playing for] Leicester and Manchester United, that he has a lot of potentials.”
Ten Hag continued: “Then it’s all about him; the players in the locker room, the coaches, and the manager all believe in him. That’s what I told him; I’m confident he can do it and will succeed. I’m certain of it.”
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