In an international window when Paul Pogba revealed his struggles with depression and Gareth Bale suggested callous criticism could lead to suicide, how did a section of England fans treat a man who helped lead them to a World Cup semi-final and Euros final in the past four years? By booing him before he even kicked a ball.
Precisely what Harry Maguire has done to prompt Three Lions fans to turn on him is not clear. Perhaps some England supporters just cannot forgive him for his red card in Manchester United’s 4-1 defeat to Watford in November; a result that proved the final straw for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s doomed reign.
Maybe they hold him accountable for the 4-1 derby defeat to Manchester City or the Champions League elimination at the hands of Atletico Madrid.
Perhaps those England fans, who continued to boo his early touches in last night’s 3-0 win against Ivory Coast, care so passionately about United’s trophyless run extending to five years this season that they can no longer stand idly by in silence. Because the mindless treatment of Maguire cannot have been related to his service to his country.
England fans do not generally choose the international arena to show their support for United — or any of the traditional elite. A friendly in March is not the obvious opportunity to give it to Maguire with both barrels because his slump in form has contributed to his club side facing an uphill battle to secure a top-four spot.
It is not even as if the centre-back had allowed those troubles to bleed into the game last night, because fans turned on him before he even had a chance to put a foot wrong.
This is the same Maguire England’s travelling support considered ‘one of their own’ after he followed the country to Euro 2016 as a fan.
The Maguire who ‘drinks the vodka… drinks the Jager’, as the terrace chant goes. ‘Old Slabhead’, who set England on course for the World Cup semi-finals in Russia by putting that bonce to good use against Sweden in the quarter-final.
Maguire, who was the only England penalty-taker other than Harry Kane to score from the spot in the shootout defeat to Italy in the Euros final last summer. He may be out of form, but he has plenty of credit in the bank — certainly where his country is concerned.
He is not the type to let down his country, yet last night, sections of those who follow the country let him down. So what exactly do those fans who booed have against him? And what on earth do they hope to achieve?
“I don’t understand how it benefits anybody,” said England manager Gareth Southgate. “I would imagine if you asked a few [of them] why they were doing that, they wouldn’t actually be able to answer. It becomes a mob mentality.
“But we’re either all in this together or we’re not. And don’t think for one minute the other players won’t be looking at that thinking, ‘That could be me one day’.
“And that’s been one of the problems with playing for England. Players have thought, ‘Do I want to go? Because when it turns a bit difficult, the crowd is going to turn on me’.”
Southgate’s concern is well-placed. Perhaps his greatest achievement with England has not been his outstanding results at back-to-back tournaments, but the manner in which he has reconnected the national team with the nation.
That was cracked last night — and, in a World Cup year, the danger is that it will be broken.
Jack Grealish, the poster boy of the Euros for fans despite only limited game-time, offered an insight into the dressing room, describing the incident as “something the whole team didn’t like one bit”.
England have an uncomfortable history of scapegoating its heroes — from David Beckham in 1998, to Wayne Rooney in 2006.
The next World Cup has not even kicked off, and Maguire has already been made the villain by some. Southgate has used this latest camp to put his arm around the £80million defender and show him the kind of trust and support that has been at the heart of England’s success over the past four years.
He deserves it. He also deserves an apology from anyone inside Wembley who thought the best way to treat a national hero, going through something of a crisis of form, was to boo the very mention of his name as he stepped out onto the pitch to represent his country.
