In recent years, there will have been moments when even the most cynical football supporter has observed Harry Maguire, winced at the latest mishap, and perhaps had the sense that we are all now privy to an ordeal that is increasingly uncomfortable to observe.
The surreal scale of the frenzy that surrounds the Manchester United and England centre-half was brought home to me shortly before Christmas last year, when I opened social media and saw a clip from the Ghanaian parliament. Bear with me here.
Isaac Adongo was the member of parliament addressing the house and employed Maguire as a metaphor for the Ghanaian vice-president’s management of the economy.
Adongo said: “Harry Maguire, he’s a defender. He was tackling everybody and throwing his body everywhere. He was seen as the best defender in the world. Manchester United went and bought him. Then he became the biggest threat at the centre of the Manchester United defence, tackling Manchester players and giving assists to opponents. Mr Speaker, when you see the opponents fail to score, Maguire will score for them.”
He added: “Mr. Speaker, you remember in this country we also have an economic Maguire. Mr Speaker, why did we give this Maguire the opportunity to be at the centre of our defence? He became the rest of our own goals. Our economic Maguire is taking control of the fundamentals of our economy and destroying all of them.”
Can we please never forget when Harry Maguire was brought up in Ghanaian parliament 😂 pic.twitter.com/kfpzg2bMPw
— 101 Great Goals (@101greatgoals) February 10, 2023
In short, Maguire has become a punchline on a global scale and on Tuesday night in Glasgow, even on a night England excelled, the defender found himself once again at the centre of the conversation. The England manager Gareth Southgate brought Maguire on as a substitute at half-time, with England leading 2-0, but he was goaded by the Scottish support even before the own goal that breathed fire into a contest that had appeared as good as over before his entrance. England’s away support did respond by singing Maguire’s name.
Yet new gags emerged. Maguire, who plays for England and Manchester United, has scored his past three goals for Scotland, Sevilla and Tottenham Hotspur.
The braying from the Scottish support is not standalone. When Maguire entered the field for United as a 67th-minute substitute at Arsenal earlier this month, the Arsenal fans cheered the player onto the field. In a pre-season fixture for United against Athletic Bilbao in Dublin, Maguire was booed by a small section of his own club’s support, a year on from enduring a similar ordeal in an appearance for United in Australia. In between all that, his club manager Erik ten Hag stripped Maguire of the United captaincy, while he also appeared to be reduced to the status of fifth-choice central defender at Old Trafford, falling behind Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez, Victor Lindelof and Luke Shaw, before spurning the opportunity to move to West Ham United this summer.
Tuesday night’s difficulties proved a breaking point for England manager Southgate, who laid the blame at the door of former players, the media and social media.
“It’s a joke,” Southgate said. “I’ve never known a player treated like he is, not by the Scottish fans, by our own commentators, pundits, whatever it is. It’s beyond anything I’ve ever seen. He’s been an absolute stalwart for us in the second-most successful England team for decades. He’s been a key part of that.
Maguire scores his own goal against Scotland (Photo: ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP via Getty Images)
“Every time he goes on the field, the resilience he shows, the balls he shows, is absolutely incredible. He’s a top player. We’re all with him, our fans were brilliant with him tonight.“
Southgate’s point is backed up by evidence. During the 2021-22 Premier League season, The Alan Turing Institute conducted a survey in conjunction with Ofcom (the United Kingdom’s communications regulator). It assessed the first half of the campaign and provided data on the most abused footballers in the Premier League on social media.
The survey, which corresponded with a painful period for United at the end of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s reign, found that Maguire received 8,954 abusive tweets. This placed him second in the Premier League only behind Cristiano Ronaldo (12,520) and the situation has barely improved since.
While United’s manager Ten Hag would always insist publicly that Maguire is an important part of his squad, he could barely have hinted more strongly during pre-season where Maguire resided in his priorities. First, he took the armband from Maguire but then Maguire was also part of largely second-string selections chosen for pre-season fixtures against Borussia Dortmund and Bilbao. In August, United then accepted a £30million ($37.4m) offer from West Ham. To many observers, it appeared a pretty good solution. Maguire would join a team that defends deep, better suited to his skill set, and he could rebuild his confidence away from the scorching spotlight of life at Old Trafford.
Maguire, however, had two years remaining on a £190,000-per-week contract at United and, in order to leave and accept a reduced salary at West Ham, he wished, not unreasonably, to agree a settlement package with United to ensure he was not out of pocket. That package was not agreed, which led some observers to question whether Maguire placed financial incentives ahead of what may be best for his football career. By the time Maguire may have come round to the idea of leaving right at the end of the window, United had insufficient time to sort out a replacement.
This is a situation that is both complex and simple. Maguire’s plight at Old Trafford is not unique; just stop and consider the litany of famous names whose reputations have taken a hit while at United in recent times. Jose Mourinho, Angel Di Maria, Alexis Sanchez, Radamel Falcao, Jadon Sancho, Donny van de Beek, Romelu Lukaku and Paul Pogba are among those who failed to reach the heights expected of them, yet Maguire’s predicament feels as sustained and agonising as any individual who has passed through Old Trafford since Sir Alex Ferguson left the club in 2013.
Maguire has, in the space of five years, reached the semi-final of a World Cup and a final of a European Championship with England, become the most expensive defender in the world, won and lost the United captaincy and been the subject of a criminal investigation after an altercation on the Greek party island of Mykonos.
In some senses, therefore, there is so much at play that diagnosing the reasons for the glee of the Maguire opprobrium can be complex. What is abundantly clear, however, is that Maguire is not one of those individuals who slaps on some war paint when he steps out on the field. Rather, his performances display, nakedly, every bit of anxiety that has overwhelmed his career in recent times. That does not make him weaker than his peers — it simply makes him human.
Southgate’s defence of Maguire on Tuesday evening may compel some of the player’s critics to check themselves but the reality of modern life is that it will likely further polarise and entrench existing positions, while many will continue to wonder why Southgate appears so unwilling to afford opportunities to other centre-backs, such as Fikayo Tomori and Levi Colwill, when Maguire’s club status is so limited and his form for England has also become more patchy over the past year.
And, in that sense, the solution this summer felt so clear and simple. Never has a player appeared so much as though they would benefit from the breathing space that may come from a change of environment, escaping the pressure cooker of Old Trafford and entering a club in West Ham, where the level of scrutiny may be more tolerable and European football is still on offer.
Instead, Maguire chose to stay. He would say he wishes to fight for his place at United. And that may well be true and given the niggles that have inflicted Varane, Martinez and Lindelof early on this season, it may not turn out to be fantasy. Yet for now, at least, the decision to stay put appears to pose more questions than answers; both for Maguire and Southgate.
(Photo: JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
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