As Sevilla scored their third goal in a 3-0 demolition of Manchester United in the Europa League quarter-final second leg, it appeared the latter’s season was at risk of crumbling. Since then, though, Erik Ten Hag has steadied his team, guiding them to an FA Cup final and taking another step or two towards finishing in the top four.
Harry Maguire has barely played since that calamitous evening at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan. The 30-year-old was largely at fault for Sevilla’s first goal, coughing up possession on the edge of his own box, and was generally vulnerable as United’s last line of defence. It was a performance so bad it raised fresh questions about Maguire’s future at Old Trafford.
Victor Lindelof and Luke Shaw’s growing partnership in central defence has compounded Maguire’s misery with the pair key in recent matches against Brighton, Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa. Still officially club captain, Maguire is now Manchester United’s fifth choice centre back. The final nail has surely been hammered into the coffin of his United career.
Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane have emerged as Ten Hag’s first-choice centre back pairing this season. They bring the best out of each other and give Manchester United all they need at the back – ability on the ball, physical presence, intensity and a natural assertiveness that has been missing for years.
In the absence of Martinez and Varane, though, Lindelof and Shaw have forged an understanding of their own. Shaw’s recovery pace allows United to play a high line with the England international also important to the way his team plays out from the back. Alongside Shaw, Lindelof is an all-round defensive presence.
Most damning for Maguire is that Lindelof appears a far superior player when playing alongside Shaw, a natural left back by trade. Lindelof and Maguire bring the worst out of each other. As a pairing, they are jittery and contribute to a general sense of nervousness throughout the team as a whole.
The £80m transfer fee paid by Manchester United for Maguire back in 2019 meant life at Old Trafford was always going to be difficult for the England defender. This price tag immediately raised expectations to an unrealistic level. Fans expected him to be United’s Virgil van Dijk when he never had the skillset to match Liverpool’s dominant Dutchman.
A gross misunderstanding of Maguire’s technical traits also set him up for failure. At Leicester City, Maguire excelled as part of a defensive line that sat deep and soaked up opposition pressure. He performed a similar job for England who played on the counter-attack to reach the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup with Maguire a key figure.
At Manchester United, though, Maguire is generally expected to play much higher up the pitch and this exposes his lack of mobility. What’s more, Maguire was primarily used as the left-sided centre back when he is right-footed. This resulted in an imbalance in United’s possession play. Their team was lopsided when on the ball at the back.
Ten Hag immediately recognised this problem upon his arrival at Old Trafford last summer and signed left-footed Martinez to operate in the position Maguire had occupied for three seasons. With Martinez now sidelined through injury until the end of the season, Shaw – also a left-footer – has been used as a deputy for the Argentine.
Financial Fair Play (FFP) concerns mean Manchester United will likely need to sell players to buy new ones in the transfer market this summer. Ten Hag clearly needs a new number nine to lead his attack with reinforcements also required in midfield. Maguire could be an asset United can sell to raise funds.
Maguire has certainly had the opportunity to prove himself as a Manchester United. Indeed, the 30-year-old has played 173 games over the last four seasons for the Old Trafford club. He was made club captain and built around as the most expensive defender in United’s history. As a foundational piece, though, Maguire has shown himself to be flawed.
United are a work-in-progress under Ten Hag and more development will be required next season, when the club hopes to be back in the Champions League. Maguire increasingly feels like part of the club’s past rather than part of its future. The sight of Lindelof and Shaw in the team ahead of the England international has made that clear.
