In the Nations League match against Denmark on Wednesday night, he was sent off already after half an hour of play. With ten men, England lost the battle.
– It’s awful, Gary Neville sums up Sky Sports.
– It was painful to watch. The alarms rang from the first second. He is completely drained of self-confidence, and one only waited for the next mistake, which came every single time, until he was sent off the field, writes BBCs football commentator Phil McNulty.
The former Manchester United defender, Neville, believes Wednesday’s fad sums up the last few months for the Manchester United captain.
For they have been nightmarish.
After Manchester United were knocked out of the Europa League, Maguire went on holiday to Greece.
There he was arrested, and later convicted of violence, a verdict he has appealed.
On the field, both he and the team have struggled. Both Crystal Palace and Brighton occasionally drove the carousel with Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s shaky defense, before culminating in the humiliating 1-6 loss to José Mourinho’s Tottenham in the last league match before the national team break.
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– It looks like he needs time on the sidelines, to gather his thoughts, and find his way back to the version of himself that was so good for Leicester, and came in and raised the team at Old Trafford after the transfer, McNulty believes.
– It is not certain he wants it, and it is a difficult balancing act, Solskjær probably also feels that he needs his leader in a difficult time. But both the form and the mental part must be addressed, he continues.
On Saturday night, Newcastle awaits in the Premier League, before PSG awaits in the Champions League in midweek. After that come key matches against Chelsea and Arsenal in the league.
Despite England losing after Maguire’s expulsion, he received support from national team manager Gareth Southgate.
– He is a top player, and very important to us. Right now he is getting a lot of criticism, but he has our full support, and is strong enough to come out of this strengthened, Southgate said to Sky Sports after the Denmark loss.
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