Harry Maguire’s Playing Time and National Team Performance: A Concern for Gareth Southgate

He is no longer the captain at United, and at the weekend he started in the Premier League for the first time this season in the starting line-up. But England is a different song, coach Gareth Southgate won’t allow the 30-year-old defender.

“If it continues at United, then definitely me and the club will sit down and talk. But to be honest, I’m fully focused on the two big games for England at the moment. Then I will fight and try to get my place back in Manchester to help the team climb up the league to where we belong,” Maguire said ahead of Australia’s friendly and EURO 2024 qualifier against Italy.

But Southgate has already indicated that the low playing time of one of his favorites is causing wrinkles on his forehead. It is not surprising, since Maguire has only played three complete games since the start of the new season, one of which was in the national team against Ukraine.

🗣 “My win percentage when I’ve played is ridiculously high.” 📊

Harry Maguire believes his recent form should see him play a major part in Man United’s upcoming games pic.twitter.com/zhQBUlt0is

— Football Daily (@footballdaily) October 12, 2023

“I believe in my abilities and what I have achieved in my career. Any player who is on the bench should believe that he can come on, otherwise he would not be playing at a high level. I’m not different. It’s hard, I want to play. I want to feel important to the club and the rest of the team. I haven’t been playing nearly as much as I’d like to at the moment. That is the most important thing. I just have to make sure I’m ready to take the opportunity when it comes,” Maguire said.

The experienced stopper is often the target of criticism because of mistakes or sometimes even comical situations that he can cause. On the other hand, this applies in the overwhelming majority of cases to the club scene, in the national team he performs much more stable. Reason? Maybe he doesn’t even know him.

“It’s not up to me whether I start the next game or not. If you look at my last 15 to 20 starts for club and England, I’m really happy with my performances. My win percentage when I joined is really high. Of course there are times when I can do more and times when I can improve and help the team, but that’s what I’m trying to do all the time,” he continued.

Red Devils coach Erik ten Hag said in the summer that everyone has to fight for their place. At one point, however, it looked like Maguire would change his shirt. There was a lot of talk about his move to West Ham for the Czech footballers Tomáš Souček and Vladimír Coufal.

However, the negotiations did not progress far. “The actual possibility of going to West Ham was not agreed between the two clubs and me, so it wasn’t just whether I said yes or no. West Ham is a huge club but I am still fully focused on Manchester United. I want to fight for my place, but of course playing time is really important for me,” he said.

2023-10-12 20:15:37
#sit #play #month #talk #United #Maguire #Sport.cz