Easily tier two for me. He is probably the best on the ball of all that lot, his calmness on the ball and use of it is probably the best I've seen at united, controversial I know but I think he is.
Re OP, worth it and wouldn't sell him for that.
Maguire’s value
- Thread starter ThinkTank@Cafe
- Start date
-
In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
Re OP, worth it and wouldn't sell him for that.
Depends how much this Covid 19 has deflated prices.
He's no Rio or Vidic but there's not many available defenders around that are attainable. Crazy prices at the time plus the English player tax is say he's worth it.
He reminds me alot of Pallister.
You reckon Smalling is better then Maguire?
And what guarantee is there Koulibaly would produce much better performances than him in a new league at 29??
There is none. Koulibaly was average this season in the Seria A. Once he declines physically, he won't be the same he was a couple of years ago. 60m for Koulibaly after Covid-19 will be a lot of money, so not worth it. Napoli will also haggle over every Euro they can get and try to fleece us.
I'm always confused by this argument. It's not like the prices that we pay for players affect our transfer budget, the prices that other clubs set for our targets etc., right?
There aren't that many center backs on the market, so it's not an obvious decision. Probably not, although we're yet to see how all this COVID business affects the market.
All I care about is whether or not he improved us. Would you be happier if we’d walked away because Leicester wanted 80m and we wouldn’t go above 75? Either the money goes on a centre back we desperately need, or stays in the Glazer’s pockets. That’s why I don’t care how much we spend. Obviously I’m talking within reason, I’m not saying we should spend 250m to bring Titus Bramble out of retirement, but if we need the player and 5m stands between us having a good defence and an average one, who gives a shit?
No, I wouldn't sell him. A great team needs a strong spine and we have DDG (assuming he regains form, which I think he will), HM, BF and a ? at CF. Add a good RW, one or two midfield and work out our CF needs and we'll be top drawer.
I trust Ole with his man management and a strong captain is important to forming a team, rather than a bunch of individuals. Good call, Ole.
I trust Ole with his man management and a strong captain is important to forming a team, rather than a bunch of individuals. Good call, Ole.
We massively overpaid for him so doubt we would recoup the £80m. He’s a decent player but if in the (unlikely) scenario a better player became available then i‘d want to sell.
Napoli is in a mess. Their owner pissed off most of the players by punishing them for no reason which lead to a proper coupe d'etat. Most players wants out. Carlo Ancelotti was the first to leave, which speaks volumes considering that this guy had to work with guys like Berlusconi and Abramovich. Mertens and Allan are leaving as well. De Laurentiis is able to make Mourinho's toxicity look like Sir Alex man management.
If you're interested to learn more
https://www.thesportsman.com/articl...ps-life-at-napoli-under-aurelio-de-laurentiis
Last edited:
Well cause he's a much better player. He's faster, he's better technically gifted , he's got better positioning etc. Maguire is slightly better in air and physically stronger but we're not in the 70s anymore. The gap between the two is evident.
Yes. Very limited player. We should have bought koulibaly
or alternatively we should have gotten him at a cheaper price. Its amazing how a club of our stature couldn't find an alternative for him. I mean the guy isn't decent but he's nowhere near to Rio, Vidic, Stam or even Pally.
Statistically Maguire has been the best ball carrying CB in the PL even better than Van Dijk(I can`t post the stat here from Twitter yet) there isn`t that big a gap in technique and positioning is relative because Koulibaly depends on his pace and athleticism to cover ground, an attribute that will fade out as he enters his 30s whereas Maguire is usually in the right place at the right time and has a better sense of leadership. Smalling has looked like a revelation in that same league every chance Koulibaly beomes half the player he was when he joins the PL. He`d be the perfect partner but not a good replacement for Maguire.
Exactly right. He is a decent player, but nothing special. I'm sure he has leadership qualities and is well liked by the other players, but he is no where near Rio or Vida or Stam. And that's the level we should be looking at surely? And at 80million, we got ripped off.
So the question was what is his value now, imo it's gone down, as has every player's value. But for me he was a 50mil defender max when we bought him, and now who knows, it's a different world we live in.
Well it’s not old, in fact he’s entering his prime years as a footballer.. 27 is young these days? Well if it goes for Lingard then ok, Harry is young.
His value now will be at its peak.
Exactly. Why some would want to even consider selling him now is ridiculous.
He is literally the only player we’ve had since Ibra who has a remote piece of character about them.
Literally when we signed Harry there wasn’t a leader or voice among them, not a one.
Harry seems a great captain and we need characters like this to drag the others by the scruff of the neck through the trickier times.
Bruno has a good character as well, more of them the better. Hoping McTominay can be another.
What this team has needed for a while is vocal leaders who demand more of the players around them, it’s been too easy to drop points for a lot of them in the past. We need lads that can give others a kick up the arse on the pitch.
Who the hell cares what his ‘value’ is?
we aren’t selling him - if and when he leaves he will likely be in his early/ mid thirties. If we buy another CB, it will be as his partner.
would rather pay a big fee and see an instant improvement in the team, than £30m punts on the likes of Lindelof and Bailly who have been poor investments. Then look at the fortune we have spent on Rojo.
we aren’t selling him - if and when he leaves he will likely be in his early/ mid thirties. If we buy another CB, it will be as his partner.
would rather pay a big fee and see an instant improvement in the team, than £30m punts on the likes of Lindelof and Bailly who have been poor investments. Then look at the fortune we have spent on Rojo.
Lindelof poor investment? Lindelof is not worse defender than Maguire. And what fortune on Rojo?
whether Lindelof is a better player or equal to Maguire is a matter of opinion, but I would argue Lindelof is very average and he’s a player we should be looking to improve upon not Maguire. As for Rojo.
£16m transfer fee
Free loan of Nani to sporting, and we paid all of his wages
5 years pay, including a shocking new contract
Subsiding his latest loan, I suspect to the time of 90% in wages
Rojo has cost a fortune and has delivered the sum total of sweet FA.
Your dislike of Maguire clouds your judgement.
Maybe, but maybe it is another way around.
Nevertheless, i think that Lindelof is very good defender and despite that i think that Maguire is overrated i am perfectly happy with that partnership because i do think that Harry is a good defender. Not 80mil defender but he is good, what is done is done and we don't need to brake up this partnership.
But i am also happy with Rojo and Bailly. They are not good as those two but they are good backup options. Better than Jones anyway.
I want Koulibaly but as a partner for Maguire. The latter is an excellent character to build a team with.
Look its not as if I don't rate Maguire. The guy is good in air, he's decent with his feet, he's got decent leadership (although he's no Gary Neville let alone a Keane or a Robson) and he's one solid unit. God bless him he's like a concrete wall. If he was a 30m-40m signing then we would have been stupid not to get him. 50m would still be worth it. However 80m? Jeez how the hell did we figured that out?
I don't blame Leicester for taking us to the cleaners. Its hard for a small club to replace him. Also if a club of our stature comes knocking at their door two years in a row then its evident that our scouts are not up for grabs and we're desperate. However 80m is a big sum of money. We got Bruno Fernandes for slightly more then half that fee and he's WC material. Maguire is nowhere near to that level
Maguire is nowhere near to Van Dijk.
Also Smalling is very underrated here. Some seem to forget that since Rio-Vidic grew old, he was consistently our best CB. Call me old fashioned but I'd rather have a decent CB whose good defensively then a Rojo or a Lindelof who can pass the ball but are pretty crap on everything else. TBF I'd rather have Lindelof then crocks like Bailly, Jones and by the looks of it Tuanzebe as well.
Sure I wouldn't spend 80m on Smalling. However bringing if we surround him with the right players then you'll get great service out of him. Which is exactly the same thing I would say about Maguire. Thus why I don't think we were silly spending 80m on him. An 80m player should drag the defence by himself like Stam and Rio did.
Honestly, Id love to see Maguire-Smalling partnership being given a shot. I'd say it would do well.
Poor ball playing defenders don't do to well in the PL now due to high pressing being so common. It puts to much pressure on the team to always bring players back to collect the ball and slows everything down; that's the complete opposite of what Ole is trying to do. Lindelof is not crap at everything else apart from passing, he is very, very good at defending channels like against possession orientated teams like City; it's heading and duels with very strong CF that he has some problems with.
Look I was never a Smalling's fan. I also had a nickname for him ie Hodor. But there's no denying that year after year he was our best CB. We spent some 80m on Bailly, Lindelof and Rojo but Mike kept them out. Then he moved to the Serie A who might had seen better times but they know a thing or two about CB and he did well there as well. Should we at least admit that inside that big dumb man there's a decent CB? I mean with all his ball playing skills lindelof is a mistake waiting to happen
Hmm dun think he is easily as good as Bruce/Pallister yet to be very honest. Bruce was a great captain for us in the past, and we were very successful during that period too, he was even voted domestic team of decade in Premier league. Don't think Maguire is anywhere near to that level yet. Whereas Pallister has also enjoyed a very successful spell for us, was voted Premier league team of the year 4 times. Maguire is still some distance away from that level to be honest.
No. But if I had to pick one of them to defend against a top forward in a defensive drill I'd pick Smalling. Maguire is far better with the ball and better overall
i don't know if he's dumb but i do agree that he's a decent CB, just not for the PL for a team that wants to compete with the popularity of high pressing of today and the importance of defenders to be able to play football. I just think he was the most reliable being fit when Bailly can't stay away from injuries to save his life and Lindelof took a bit of time to adjust; i don't see Smalling as being better then them, just the circumstances meant he had to play week in week out and our defense made DDG player of the year numerous times for a reason. I feel since he left he's being looked at a bit kindly less we forget how easy a team with him in a back 2 made it for the opposition to have chance after chance only to be saved by probably the best 2 or 3 season that i've ever seen from a goalkeeper. The best of a bad bunch is the best i can think of him really.Fair enough.
I’m glad we have him, he’s an absolute cut above the other centre backs we have. Is any player worth £80m, I doubt it, but he has definitely improved us, and you can’t always say that about our big money signings.
He's not worth £80m but he's a good CB. I think we as fans have been sucked into a bit of a club offensive on the 'feel good' moment we are in and Maguire seems to be the main figure we keep hearing about - I commend his actions and whilst it's great he seems a genuinely good bloke it doesn't mean he's suddenly transformed into a world class CB because on the pitch this season his form has been patchy. I think what will always keep him from reaching the level of the world's best is he is simply not quick/athletic enough, he's kind of like Tony Adams in that he's arguably the best in the league at the more combative side of the game (good in the air, positionally great, strong, brave, captain material) and better on the ball but will always have issues with pace if we defend with a high line and don't have a sweeper keeper.
Heard his wife just had a baby.
It's been 9 months since he signed for us.
It's been 9 months since he signed for us.
I think he has another 4 years of good football in him which he can offer us. When he hits 30 we can sell him for 20m to 30m. No club would pay 80m we paid for him.
Meantime we should sign Upamecano for 40m and he is just 21 yrs old. And 40m looks decent price for such a promising youngster.
Meantime we should sign Upamecano for 40m and he is just 21 yrs old. And 40m looks decent price for such a promising youngster.
Fair point, he hasn't even completed a full season with us yet I guess so a bit early but i think after 3 or 4 seasons he will prove as good.
So was Bebe, and Bebe was much cheaper.
If you randomly quote me a player who has never featured in EPL, hence always a big question mark on whether he will end up like Lindelof and Bailey . Beside, at 1.85m, not the strongest CB in Bundesliga. OK this is not a beauty contest, but 55m for an unproven player, expecting him to hit the road better than Vidic & Fred, replacing a seasoned CB like Maguire, such that we can pocket 20m profit?
I agree with this. Maguire has been awesome and not found out really at all.
Same people who moan about Maguire would be calling out Sergio Ramos at Madrid saying he’s too slow and not very tall... Not a bad footballer though...