Gareth Southgate warns Manchester United defender Harry Maguire of place in England setup
Manchester United defender Harry Maguire has been warned by Gareth Southgate that he is not guaranteed a place in the England setup.
The English national has found game time hard to come by at the Red Devils over the last few months. He has become a bit-part player since the arrival of Erik ten Hag from Ajax Amsterdam last summer.
Speaking on talkSPORT (h/t Manchester Evening News), Southgate revealed that Maguire’s place in the national team depends on how other players perform. However, the 30-year-old’s experience gives him an edge.
“It depends on how other players at other clubs are playing. I can never guarantee to a player that we are going to pick them.
“We have [picked Maguire] until this point because in comparison with other players in this position in terms of experience, quality on the ball, aerial presence, balance and the relationship he and John Stones have had over a long period of time, its partnership that’s worked brilliantly for us and we recognise that.”
United signed the English national in the summer of 2019 from Leicester City. The centre-back had caught a lot of people’s attention back then with his displays for the Foxes as well as the World Cup in Russia.
Initially, Maguire was decent for the Red Devils. Subsequently, the centre-back was handed the captain’s armband by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Unfortunately, it looks like the English national has been unable to handle the pressure at the Old Trafford side for some time now. The defender has been error-prone and seems to lack confidence.
Despite Maguire’s struggles at United, Southgate has retained faith in his abilities. The centre-back has not let the Three Lions’ head coach down. In Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup, the defender was one of the national team’s best players.
However, will Maguire be able to get his place back in the Red Devils’ starting lineup? It will evidently be challenging. Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane did well as a pairing in the previous campaign. Victor Lindelof also was ahead of the English national in the pecking order in the 2022/23 term.
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England have some up-and-coming centre-backs like Marc Guehi and Levi Colwill. Therefore, it will be interesting to see whether Southgate continues to stick with Maguire for the time being.
