An apology to Harry Maguire

MrBest

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People need to chill out. Yes we missed Maguire but I still believe he is a very average player. He is definitely the best of a bad bunch, Bailey and Tuanzabe also don't have any match fitness as they have barely played all year. Lack of rotation and injuries killed this and Fred and Mctominay were simply awful in the middle, gave up possession way to easy. Overall, we didn't show up and was dreadful. That's football for you, it can happen. I wouldn't go around apologising for not liking Maguire though, very weird.
 

Judas

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People need to chill out. Yes we missed Maguire but I still believe he is a very average player. He is definitely the best of a bad bunch, Bailey and Tuanzabe also don't have any match fitness as they have barely played all year. Lack of rotation and injuries killed this and Fred and Mctominay were simply awful in the middle, gave up possession way to easy. Overall, we didn't show up and was dreadful. That's football for you, it can happen. I wouldn't go around apologising for not liking Maguire though, very weird.
If Maguire is very average, what's Bailly?
 

Agila Dathi

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Weirdest argument award goes too....
Got caught up in the moment there a bit :wenger:
What I was trying to say is that Fred’s mistakes happens with Maguire too, and he put us under pressure time and time again tonight.
And Rashford could, and should have done so much better many times tonight when we were close to creating something, but he made some stupid decisions and we lost the ball.
I don’t think Maguire playing would have changed the results that much. We cannot defend set pieces and we make stupid mistakes in almost every game, also when Maguire plays.
 

bosnian_red

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Maguire is very obviously a very good defender. No, he isn't on the level of Van Dijk but he is still an excellent CB. The criticism is overblown just because of price and because he isn't better than Van Dijk.
 

Cascarino

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People need to chill out. Yes we missed Maguire but I still believe he is a very average player. He is definitely the best of a bad bunch, Bailey and Tuanzabe also don't have any match fitness as they have barely played all year. Lack of rotation and injuries killed this and Fred and Mctominay were simply awful in the middle, gave up possession way to easy. Overall, we didn't show up and was dreadful. That's football for you, it can happen. I wouldn't go around apologising for not liking Maguire though, very weird.
I can understand what you're saying, lack of game time and lack of familiarity with partnerships can make it very hard, especially when in this particular game they were being guarded by a sieve, but Maguire is a really good CB. He has the one weakness regarding his speed and when it's exploited it can look bad, but it doesn't often happen. His leadership, organisational skills and intelligence means that he adds a firmness to the whole backline, and his confidence on the ball makes things a lot easier for those in front of him. Add in his aerial prowess and it means he's a massive miss when not available. He's very good and one of the best in the league.

After Bruno, I'd probably say Maguire is the worst one to be missing for an important match.
 

MrBest

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If Maguire is very average, what's Bailly?
Bailey is completely injury prone and has played around 100 games in 5ish years. That says it all really, I think he could have been a really good player but how can you prove that if you spend most your time on the injury table. What is very clear, we are in desperate need of a new centre back.

I rate Tuanzabe very highly, but again, he has had some injuries and never really gets picked. Our defence has been shaky and leaky all season, this game does not prove anything. Someone mentioned we could have conceded 5 to Roma, that's a fact, they tore us open at times and Harry was playing. He is too slow and sucks in our other players to support his lack of pace. I also think he has been awful in the air for us this year, his positioning is strange at times but I do like the way he tries to bring out the ball from the back. I've also seen children that are better leaders than him.
 

MrBest

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I can understand what you're saying, lack of game time and lack of familiarity with partnerships can make it very hard, especially when in this particular game they were being guarded by a sieve, but Maguire is a really good CB. He has the one weakness regarding his speed and when it's exploited it can look bad, but it doesn't often happen. His leadership, organisational skills and intelligence means that he adds a firmness to the whole backline, and his confidence on the ball makes things a lot easier for those in front of him. Add in his aerial prowess and it means he's a massive miss when not available. He's very good and one of the best in the league.

After Bruno, I'd probably say Maguire is the worst one to be missing for an important match.
I agree with your last statement and thats mostly because the others are either injured all the time or have no match fitness because of a lack of playing time. I personally do not rate Harry very high, but i do respect your opinion. I personally have seen better leaders out there, and could choose 5 or 6 other players in the prem, that I would have over him (outside the top 4 clubs).
 

Isotope

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With Maguire, we've never conceded 3 goals or more.
 

AltiUn

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It's been apparent how good he is for ages. He deserves far more respect from his own fan base. Find it laughable people actually hold the opinion Lindelof is better than him.
 

Yagami

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Lovely. It's just a shame his performances on the pitch aren't what converted the non-believers.
 

BorisManUtd

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His absence was felt for the first time in that League cup semis loss to City 3-1 at Old Trafford.
 

izak

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Lindelof is #1 defender, blame bailly for

Lindelöf is always shaky, not good on 1 v 1s, not good on Arial duals, okay at interceptions.
Safe to say it's been a on man defence all season!!
Get well soon Captain Maguire.
 

amolbhatia50k

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He's not exactly top class but looks better due to Lindelof and Bailly clowning about
 

flappyjay

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2 goals from set pieces and 1 from Fred giving away the ball. That's just standard, we have been conceding those all season. The only team to concede from set pieces more than is is Leeds.
 

Lentwood

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I have said this many times before but Maguire is the only CB who actually does any defending.

I have played CB a bit and you can “cheat” in the position at times. Let the other bloke do all the actual defending and just play the “sidekick” role. That is what Lindelof does. Maguire wins all the headers, Maguire is the one who gets right up against the CB and presses the ball into their feet, Maguire is the one who takes the ball under pressure and helps us move it out of the defence.

Bailly is just a liability. On form, looks like peak Rio Ferdinand. That happens about once a season. The rest of the time looks like William Prunier.
 

red thru&thru

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Yes a single defeat isn't down to just one player, however, we missed Maguire a lot yesterday. Just his organisation at the back was lacking if nothing else. Yes we lost a couple on set pieces, which we do with Maguire in the team, however, the way Lfc were cutting us open almost at will last night, isn't something we're used to with Maguire in the team.

Maguire is very underappreciated by a few of our fans.
 

Roboc7

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I have been overly critical of him at times but when look at the CB pairing and the midfield pairing he’s the only one who is even close to the level required.
 

Marwood

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You shouldn't use one game to prove a point.

However in this case you don't need last nights performance to confirm Harry Maguire is very good. It's been blatantly obvious for about 4 years now.