Former Manchester United star Jaap Stam has laid the blame for Harry Maguire 's struggles at the door of his team-mates at the Red Devils.
Maguire was booed ahead of England 's win over the Ivory Coast on Tuesday in the latest low point of his season. The defender's form has nosedived since Euro 2020, with some questioning whether he should be stripped of the United captaincy.
Despite his poor performances, Maguire has remained a regular starter under both Ralf Rangnick and Gareth Southgate for United and England. Many of Maguire's Three Lions team-mates came out in full support of him following the jeers that met him at Wembley.
And Stam believes that his team-mates at club level need to follow their international counterparts to help Maguire rediscover his form. The Dutchman branded the defender an "easy target" but insisted his fellow United stars needed to do more to help.
“He’s an easy target because it’s easy to say that he is making mistakes or wrong choices. Everybody, even when I played, I made mistakes, I made wrong choices as well,” Stam told bettingexpert.
“I think he also needs to have help from his teammates. He also needs to have the confidence of people around him and they will have for him. But also from outside as well, so he can make these steps.
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"Sometimes now, when you see him play, he doesn’t look confident at times or not making the right decision. But that’s also part of a player and his career path. Sometimes you get ups and downs, you play well, and then you go down a little bit. But it’s about how you pick yourself up to become a steady player.
“They [his teammates] need to help him out as well. They need to tell him as well what he needs to do, and how he needs to play. He’s doing well within the national team as well when he plays. So he’s shown that he can play at a high level in the national team, not only for the country but also I think at Manchester United.”
Stam also questioned the coaching of Rangnick's staff, stating his belief that they were doing little work on defensive play. He insisted that even though Maguire cost £80million, he still needed individual training from the management team.
“I still think that he can do a lot better than what he’s been showing now. And I’m not saying he played very poorly but he has got the ability to improve. And if you bring in players of a certain quality or bring players in of a certain value, then you need to help this player out as well, to become a better player," Stam added.
"I’m not sure that this is happening. I’m not sure if really, coaches you know, are working individually at times with the back four-five, with these players – not only him but also the other players.
“Because there’s also some very young players – Rashford and others – that are in that squad that has a lot of potential but you also need to work with them individually. Extra sessions, or different sessions, to get more out of them.”
