Manchester United's coaching staff still have concerns over Harry Maguire's defensive qualities as the club captain continues to struggle for minutes.
Maguire was a stalwart throughout the Ole Gunnar Solskjaer era and even in the face of criticism with the club struggling, always retained his role. But with Erik ten Hag in charge, the Englishman has fallen out of favour as Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez are preferred at the back.
The defender moved from Leicester for a world-record fee in 2019 but has struggled to justify his price tag. Those at Carrington remain concerned that Maguire continues to rush out of the backline in order to win challenges, which isn't always successful and harms their defensive structure.
ESPN reports that there is also a perception that Maguire lacks mobility, which is becoming increasingly vital in the modern game. Those concerns have manifested themselves this term with the centre-half only starting five times in the Premier League.
In his absence, United have enjoyed their best campaign for years and optimism is firmly on the rise. Ten Hag has a host of centre-half options at his disposal, including Victor Lindelof. In his first press conference, the Dutch coach backed Maguire as the club's captain.
The England star, who went to the World Cup and featured regularly despite his lack of minutes at club level, has been told by Ten Hag that whilst he has a leading role to play, no minutes are guaranteed with competition for places high.
He said in February: “I'm the club captain and I have a big responsibility on and off the pitch, so it was nice to get on and help the lads. The manager has been asked numerous times about my role in interviews and he tells me honestly that he believes in me, but this is football.
“The lads who are playing and starting, Raphael is playing really well and we've seen the manager's ideas, what he wants, and he does like a left-footed centre-back playing. So it’s high competition for places, but this is Manchester United. We want to win trophies, big trophies, and to do that you need competition.
“The manager speaks to me daily, he really respects me and believes that I'm a top centre-half with all the attributes to play in his team. But also he understands that the players who are playing – and I understand that the players who are playing – are playing very well.”
Should Maguire stay at Man Utd? Have your say in the comments!
Maguire was involved in a spat with Cristiano Ronaldo last term regarding the captaincy, with the Portuguese star keen to take on the armband. It led to an internal power struggle that summed up what was a greatly disappointing season.
The club's fortunes have improved since then and Ten Hag spoke highly of the defender's contributions recently, saying: “I am really happy with the progress Harry is making at the moment. He is more dominant and dictating, taking more initiative on the training pitch and we saw in Seville against [Real] Betis where he showed leadership, especially in those aspects of initiative and dictation of the game.”
Maguire has been linked with a move away from United, which will be required if he wants the guarantee of regular minutes. There would be no shortage of suitors for the Englishman, be it domestically or abroad, were he to signal his desire to leave.
