Gareth Southgate vented his disgust at the England fans who booed Harry Maguire before the 3-0 friendly win over Ivory Coast, calling their actions “an absolute joke”.
Maguire’s struggles with Manchester United had been a hot topic in the buildup to this international break and there were boos from sections of the crowd when his name was read out before kick-off, with further jeering upon his first few touches of the ball.
The defender made light of it with a composed performance, which included roles in England’s first two goals, and his manager left no doubt that he thought the abuse was unacceptable.
“I thought the reception was a joke,” Southgate said. “An absolute joke. I don’t get it. What he has done for us is phenomenal.
“We’re either all in this together or we’re not. He’s in an England shirt and not only should you support a player in an England shirt regardless but, when you have played to the level he has and put in the performances he has, it should be total commitment.
“The team are totally united and we recognise everyone has difficult moments, and he will come through it. They are real England fans and some are influenced by, I don’t know, social media or ex-players influencing opinion. It has never been acceptable. Why are players going to play any better? Fans should get behind their team.”
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Southgate also expressed concern that the supporters’ reaction could have a wider effect. “Don’t think that some of the other players wouldn’t be looking at that thinking: ‘That could be me one day’,” he said. “That’s been one of the problems with playing for England. How that is going to benefit anybody I really don’t understand.”
Maguire’s England teammate Jordan Henderson, the captain of Liverpool, was mystified by the booing. “I can’t get my head around what happened at Wembley tonight,” he wrote on Twitter. “Harry Maguire has been a colossus for England. Without him, the progress made at the last two tournaments would not have been possible. To be booed at his home stadium, for no reason? What have we become? What happened tonight was just wrong. As someone who wants to win with England, I feel fortunate to share a dressing room with him. We all feel the same!”
Harry Kane was similarly disappointed: “We’ve worked hard to rebuild our connection with England fans in the last few years so to hear HarryMaguire booed at Wembley before kick off was just not right,” he said. “The fact that he’s been brilliant on the pitch and given us all so many great memories makes it even harder to understand. He doesn’t deserve that reception. He’s got full support in the changing room and should have the same from every England fan.”
On Wednesday morning Maguire tweeted a simple message: “Enjoyable week playing for my country.”
Jack Grealish, who set up England’s second goal for Raheem Sterling, echoed Southgate’s sentiment. “I think it’s ridiculous,” he said. “Harry’s been unbelievable for this country in the World Cup, the Euros, outstanding. I think even tonight he was brilliant. It wasn’t nice to hear boos for Harry and the whole team didn’t like it one bit.”
Grealish also confirmed that he had asked the referee, Erik Lambrechts, to exercise common sense when he showed Serge Aurier a second yellow card five minutes before half-time. The forward could be seen talking to Lambrechts at the time and felt that, given the low stakes and the moderateness of the offence, Aurier should have stayed on.
“You want a good game, 11 v 11, it’s not as if he has absolutely smashed someone,” he said. “I do think it killed the game a little bit. I was just saying to the ref ‘come on, leave him’, but I don’t think there was anyone changing his mind.” Southgate appeared to agree, calling the red card “a shame for us from a learning point of view, and also for the fans as a spectacle”.
On the match, Southgate was pleased with the performance. “I thought the mentality at the start was really good,” he said. “It was of course the red card which changes the game which was a shame in terms of the test we wanted.”
