Not against Everton I wasn't. Generally speaking I suppose he's done alright but I can't claim to have been blown away by him in any sense
Are you guys happy with Maguires distribution of the ball?
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Completely agree with this, He's our only defender who carries the ball forward, Lindelof has the occasional great pass in him but Maguire pushes the team forward more often than not with the way he carries the ball. I think he's done really well on that front. When Lindelof was paired with Smalling it was side pass after side pass in defence, until pressure from the opponents forced us to hoof the ball to nowhere, it has gotten much better now since Maguire arrived.
I feel like his ball playing abilities have been a bit shaky the last month or so, but before that he was fairly good. Not amazing, but there were definitely times where he played nice through balls to get us into a good position.
I don’t like how he takes ages to release the ball. He gets it, just stands over it and then releases it after 10 seconds, killing the tempo.
Symptom of the disease, rather than the disease itself
Happy? No but I'm fine with it.
I don't rate his passing abilities n distribution skills that high in the first place though.
Definitely an upgrade than Jones and Smalling. I think Rojo and Bailly can distribute better but alas they're always not available so Mag have the edge.
I don't rate his passing abilities n distribution skills that high in the first place though.
Definitely an upgrade than Jones and Smalling. I think Rojo and Bailly can distribute better but alas they're always not available so Mag have the edge.
This
Threads like these make me want to jump off the window. No offense. If we had enough midfield options this wouldn't (as it shouldn't) be a topic in the first place. The fact that he's the one with the ball passing around tells you a lot about our midfield in general. But giving the fact he is a 6,4 big defender yeah I'm happy (maybe fine is the better word like someone said earlier) with his distribution of the ball.
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He was shite at it vs Everton, but hes been fine most of the season imo.
The problem was that Everton where good at pushing up their attackers/midfielders so Fred/McTomminay was always marked and passing to them would be very risky 90% of the time. Its critical we get Pogba back as soon as possible since hes the only one of our CM's with the strength/technique to receive the ball under pressure and consistently turn away players
The problem was that Everton where good at pushing up their attackers/midfielders so Fred/McTomminay was always marked and passing to them would be very risky 90% of the time. Its critical we get Pogba back as soon as possible since hes the only one of our CM's with the strength/technique to receive the ball under pressure and consistently turn away players
This is my biggest concern. We're looking to play quick counter attacking football but have a goalkeeper that rarely releases the ball quickly and a centre back who is ponderous on the ball.
This is what makes me question Ole more than anything. It's like he's explained the overall style he's looking for to the team, but then allowed individuals to just do as they please without any individual tactical discussion.
Lindelöf's long service to Rashford against Everton (which Rashy fecked up, unsurprisingly) was quite sublime, however.
I think Lindelöf is much better at ball distribution. Maguire's main positives, in this season have been:
- Consistency and reliability. He rarely makes stupid mistakes. Which we couldn't have said about our CBs before Maguire. We had CBs who would give at least 1-2 real chances to opposition, every single game. Not anymore.
- He has made Lindelöf much better. They have good partnership and until that pair formed, we'd almost written off Lindelöf, but Harry has helped Lindelöf improve significantly. Not a small thing.
I wonder if you are joking? Pogba has the highest rate of losing the ball in the midfield. If I was trying to find a midfielder to pass a ball from behind, Pogba would be the last person to pass it to.
He’s fine, problem for a lot of people is that they built him up to something he never was before we signed him. Since he joined he’s playing to the same level as he did for Leicester, we didn’t buy a top class player, a great passer, a leader or the new VVD.
Leicester completely shafted us over the fee but he’s a decent all round defender. To get beat out of him will probably have to find right partner for him, ridiculous given his fee but that’s how it is.
Leicester completely shafted us over the fee but he’s a decent all round defender. To get beat out of him will probably have to find right partner for him, ridiculous given his fee but that’s how it is.
If you only remember the 3 very poor passes out of the eleven that he made to confirm a negative opinion of him then that is the definition of confirmation bias.
What I would say about Lindelof is that he does have a great first touch which is a part of being good on the ball, it helps with taking the ball under pressure and moving the ball on. Keep an eye out for it and you'll see what I'm talking about.
Its hard to tell when they have no options. They are both (Lindelof and Maguire) forcing it because they look around and 0 options. We need a CM that shows for the ball and then be able to handle tight spaces and move the ball to the number 10. The midfield has a similar problem with the fact the number 10 is sht and the front 3 are marked. 0 options. This results in long balls, holding on to the ball too long, sideways and backwards passes and misplaced passes. When we get Pogba back you will see this improve. If we ever get a decent number 10 and another CM option. Not saying Kroos but someone like that you will see our CBs are great players on the ball.
Among the CBs, Maguire is 9th in most long balls completed. Among the top 10 CBs with most long balls completed, Maguire has second best completion rate.
Coady with 62% and Maguire completed 58%.
Coady with 62% and Maguire completed 58%.
His passing reminds me of Lindelof's when he came here where every pass was to De Gea or sideways. It was only since the Juventus game at Old Trafford that Lindelof started taking any sort of risk with the ball. Definitely expected more of Maguire in that sense but I think he'll be more expansive when he finally settles.
The problem is that because he's so poor at turning, if under pressure, he soon gets himself into a nightmare.
Same problem happens with his defending. Just slightly wrong foot him and he's dead in the water.
Same problem happens with his defending. Just slightly wrong foot him and he's dead in the water.
The point is that he was bought for his passing, which makes up for his defending.
Someone else mentioned they only remember the 3 poor passes. I remember his general distribution. He's very good when he brings the ball out into the half himself and finds cutting passes along the floor. He's not so useful with sweeping Scholes esque passes, because we have enough of that from others as it is.
Fair enough if I picked up the wrong comment. Sorry.
No problem I do it all the time
His distribution was never on point but he tends to play risky which is why his passing sometime a bit off and sometime he stops playing those risky passes. However, everytime I watched him at Hull, Leicester and even now he always very comfortable on the ball, very composed on the ball, can keep possession when under pressure and capable to hold the ball, which what made the difference this season.
Last season we can’t even control the ball across the back that we had to conceded 4 goals against Everton.
Last season we can’t even control the ball across the back that we had to conceded 4 goals against Everton.
Not happy with Maguire at all, the price tag is just eye wateringly extreme for a player of such limited capacity.
Let’s give him some time. Even Pallister, Evra and Vidic found it challenging in the beginning but they all came round. And this was before the age of social media, statistics galore, etc.
I have posted many times already about the most over-rated defender in the premiership at the present time.Yes you guessed it,Harry Maguire.Look I am a Manchester United Season Ticket holder,like I suspect many others on here so I do not want to be negative just for negative sake but when are folk going to realise that this lad is simply not good enough at the highest level and certainly not someone who can lead our defence for years to come and help and bring on other players around him.He is completely paceless,pure and simple and in our modern game,lacking that yard or two of pace is crucial unless you have ultimate positional sense say like a Vincent Kompany had for all those years at City.I look at the likes of Van Dijk in particular and feel that Maguire is not at all capable of reaching half of what that lad has/can achieve.His passing is average at best and all this so called skill he has at bringing the ball out from the back is just nonsense,it really is,I would ask you to look at him over half a dozen games and each and every time he brings it forward,he looks to his left and plays a pass to the player nearest to him.I do not think he commands and he certainly does not inspire confidence in others in the way some seem to say.For example,do we honesty,hand on heart,think Lindelof is a better player now than he was last season.Maguire is a good header of the ball but again,not as good as people may think and for me,pure and simple,his reputation stems from him having a decent World Cup but so did Jesse Lingard and surely we wouldn't say he is a world beater either.I hope for our sake that United can find another centre half in the next coupe of seasons in the mould of a Nemanja Vidic or JaapStam and then we possibly may start seeing a vast improvement in our defending
My prediction was the first line. Out the door or hanging on like PhilThat prediction has a pretty nice range of possibilities
But with better players it might change right?
When he gets partnered with a centre back who can actually run and do most of the defensive parts of the job, I reckon he'll be fine. Not 80m fine, but a very good player for us. He'll also be helped if we start to play a left back who can do the job well. And of course, if and when we manage to put together a midfield, aided by great coaching, a lot of pressure will be taken off the defense both in terms of being under pressure and in terms of having to dictate play (against those deep sitting sides).
As it is, I think he's an upgrade on all the centre backs we had, but we still have so many problems, in terms of personnel and coaching, that it's hard to gauge how good he will be in a competent setup.
Considering he’s the worlds most expensive CB it’s been very underwhelming, but that’s how I feel about him in general.
Looks average across all areas at the moment in my view, hoping for improvements in the near future.
Looks average across all areas at the moment in my view, hoping for improvements in the near future.
It’s decent enough and would benefit a lot more from any sort of movement in front of him
I never understood when he suddenly became a great ball playing CB. He's comfortable on the ball but just because he'll play a long diagonal now and then it doesn't mean he's amazing at passing, he's good for a CB at bringing the ball out and moving the team up the pitch but he's performed kind of as expected so far.
After years of Smalling passing to Fellaini, all I can feel is satisfaction now, but form the most expensive defender I would expect better in every aspect in his game and not only passing.
But for now, I can say that he's doing his job including passing no more no less.
But for now, I can say that he's doing his job including passing no more no less.
Yep.
The key word being ‘might’ - who am I to say? As it is my prediction stands, and to be honest if we’re buying plenty of players to improve we should be buying a centre half, and Lindelof has been better than him.
Yeah, I would definitely say he’s been comfortably better than Lindelof.
We shall see.
Really? Bar a few ridiculous brain farts that you could easily expect from a 22/23 year old, Lindelof’s improved massively in defence. He reads the game very well. On top of that, he can play a great pass.
Maguire on the other hand has done very, very little for me. Missed a few sitters and gets beaten on the half way line and in the air. He’s a different type of defender than Lindelof for sure, and I think the latter has done what he’s good at a lot better than what Maguire has.
My issue with him is not his passing; it's his constantly committing fouls in the opposition's box. It's insane how regularly it happens. No idea why it isn't addressed.
He passing ability in isolation has always been overstated, not bad, and he does pick the occasional lovely pass, but what really brought the hype was the runs forward with the ball. He is composed, sometimes to the point of playing in slow motion, not a new criticism either, but he is not afraid of taking the ball and the pressure.
I think we overstate the need for exceptional creative passing quality from the back. If they are composed, technically proficient and can move the ball quickly and efficiently that is usually enough, if the midfield and attack are up to the job.
I think we overstate the need for exceptional creative passing quality from the back. If they are composed, technically proficient and can move the ball quickly and efficiently that is usually enough, if the midfield and attack are up to the job.
Maybe he does this to draw players onto himself...Therefore creating some space for his team mates,,,
This logic bemuses me. "Our 80 Mil new signing will be good, just as long as we buy other better players to mask his flaws".
For 80 mil - Maguire should be able to command the backline, be good on the ball and distribute it to a good standard.
We over paid, we know his limitations and he is doing exactly what we thought he would.
Players can take ownership of they're own performance levels, i dont think signing a new CB and a LB should be the reason Maguire improves - he's capable of working on his game and improving.
He's been average thus far, would have expected a bit more but like you say - he's streets ahead of Jones/Rojo/Smalling. Easily our best CB, far from perfect though