Manchester United legends Rio Ferdinand and Paul Scholes both believe interim manager Ralf Rangnick has faith in captain Harry Maguire but are concerned about his form.
The England international, 28, has been heavily criticised this season for his performances. The Red Devils have conceded 40 Premier League goals this term, two more than Burnley in 19th. Their leaky defence has seen them slip to fifth in the table.
Speaking to BT Sport ahead of United's Champions League game against Atletico Madrid at Old Trafford on Thursday evening, Scholes, Ferdinand and their former team-mate Owen Hargreaves discussed whether Maguire should continue to play regularly.
"The manager has shown faith in him to keep playing him considering the form he’s been in," said Scholes. "For me, the worry is what does this say about Lindelof? Lindelof, when he’s played, has done okay, nice and steady, not many mistakes. It seems everything Harry is doing has turned into an absolute disaster."
Ferdinand added: "I think Rangnick is giving him the chance to perform. He is the captain of the football club. Captains of football clubs, in general, play. Harry himself will know he’s been struggling for form recently, and when it’s going against you, you get punished for making mistakes time and time again."
And Hargreaves noted: "It’s hard, we’ve all been there when you’re doubting yourself and you’re in poor form, but the only way to get out of it is to play your way out. It’s hard when everyone is criticising you, I think he’s trying to do much, too much on the ball. Keep it simple, and his form will come back."
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United have endured a poor season, failing to compete in the Premier League, FA Cup and EFL Cup. Rather than blame Maguire, Ferdinand believes the culture at Old Trafford is wrong.
"I don’t necessarily think it’s about who you sign though," said the icon. "I was screaming at the start of the season 'Oh we’ve got [Cristiano] Ronaldo, we’ve got [Raphael] Varane now.' Big players.
"If the culture at the football club isn’t right, it doesn’t matter who you bring in. You need a manager that can guide the ship, and United don’t have that at the moment. We’ve seen it enough this season, people walking away from this stadium or anywhere they’ve played saying, 'I didn’t get enough at of X, Y or Z player that game.'"
It remains unclear who United's next manager will be, with Rangnick set to start a two-year consultancy job in the summer. "I think they’re an elite coach away from challenging for trophies again," said Scholes.
"They’ve got a good squad with some top players, but for the last three or four years, they’ve not had an elite coach... you need a manager that strikes fear into players, Sir Alex Ferguson had that, have any of the managers since him had that? I don’t think so. It’s a special talent to have as a coach."
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