Backing Harry Maguire in this tough time would be a true test of Ole

Revaulx

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What happened to him in Mykonos really is no excuse for this shocking turn of form by the way. There's no explaining it away on some minor fracas and getting into a war of words with a no-mark local court in a country he probably isn't even planning on going back to for a long while anyway.

It's not a valid excuse for how shocking he's played at all.
His decline in form was evident well before Mykonos. Maybe something happened to him during lockdown?
 

AFC NimbleThumb

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His decline in form was evident well before Mykonos. Maybe something happened to him during lockdown?
This point can’t be stressed enough.

His form since Project Restart has been poor; Mykonos may have exacerbated the decline but he’s been poor for some time.
 

Antisocial

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I hope he gets some time-off - hopefully he can switch-off completely from football and try to get his head together.

Obviously i have zero qualifications to make any judgement on what is happening with him, but I worry about him and don’t think playing him relentlessly is helping him.

We’re weak defensively obviously, but we’re fecked this season anyway and our season isn’t even remotely important compared to his health.
 

croadyman

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I hope he gets some time-off - hopefully he can switch-off completely from football and try to get his head together.

Obviously i have zero qualifications to make any judgement on what is happening with him, but I worry about him and don’t think playing him relentlessly is helping him.

We’re weak defensively obviously, but we’re fecked this season anyway and our season isn’t even remotely important compared to his health.
Someone who can clearly see the bigger picture with this situation
 

MissKatie

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It's pretty clear that whatever happened in Greece has massively affected him mentally.
In the past Fergie would've been able to help him through that period and as much as I love Ole, I don't think he has the man management of Sir Alex and it's a worry that our 80 million centre back is busted.
 

lysglimt

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It's pretty clear that whatever happened in Greece has massively affected him mentally.
In the past Fergie would've been able to help him through that period and as much as I love Ole, I don't think he has the man management of Sir Alex and it's a worry that our 80 million centre back is busted.
I can't ever recall any of our footballers having issues like Maguire - so to say that Ferguson would have solved this problem is not correct. I remember Blackmore being accused of rape, but he was cleared fairly quickly. I am sure it may have happened but I cant recall any United-player having a potentially long prison-sentence hanging over their heads
 

McGrathsipan

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I can't ever recall any of our footballers having issues like Maguire - so to say that Ferguson would have solved this problem is not correct. I remember Blackmore being accused of rape, but he was cleared fairly quickly. I am sure it may have happened but I cant recall any United-player having a potentially long prison-sentence hanging over their heads
Prison me arse. There is no way the UK will allow him to be extradited for something like that incident. Its one mans word against another.

He needs a break from the team as he is playing some utter shite lately but who goes in instead?
 

amolbhatia50k

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I hope he gets some time-off - hopefully he can switch-off completely from football and try to get his head together.

Obviously i have zero qualifications to make any judgement on what is happening with him, but I worry about him and don’t think playing him relentlessly is helping him.

We’re weak defensively obviously, but we’re fecked this season anyway and our season isn’t even remotely important compared to his health.
I think you're all reaching with this mental health aspect. We have little to base any of this of. Everyone goes through their own personal struggles and your employer should be empathetic to that, but to suggest Maguire's are so severe that they be put above the season of one of the biggest clubs on the planet seems a bit much. I mean, I don't even see why they have to be compared. We've had players struggling in the past and it's always better to replace them if they aren't performing - for the better of everyone. It's hardly as though playing him when he can't perform would somehow be good for us but destroying Maguire. Just seems like a lot of conjecture happening. If he's unable to perform whether due to stress or not being good enough then he needs time away from the 1st team.
 

TheGame

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A lot of issues are combining all at once for Maguire - bad form, Greek incident, transfer fee thrown in his face, team's bad form, being captain and the responsibility it entails. As soon he starts playing badly, the transfer fee brigade start throwing that back at him like he had any control over it. Some of the nasty personal comments against one of our own players has been pathetic. He was playing really well last season. Obviously there has been a severe dip in form. He clearly needs the support of the club and manager and I have the confidence he can come through it. Lets hope he can and we can see our captain playing back at top form again.
 

Verbalkint

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If I were Ole, I'd back him by benching/dropping him at the moment. It's clear he's struggling and needs time off.
 

Gavinb33

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I can't ever recall any of our footballers having issues like Maguire - so to say that Ferguson would have solved this problem is not correct. I remember Blackmore being accused of rape, but he was cleared fairly quickly. I am sure it may have happened but I cant recall any United-player having a potentially long prison-sentence hanging over their heads
Roy Keane was arrested before the cup final in 1999 accused of assaulting a woman in a bar for one.

Ferguson was quoted "Well, we'll have to straighten this out, but from what I can gather, it's inaccurate.", he later arrived at Bootle police station with a member of Uniteds staff
 

El Zoido

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A lot of issues are combining all at once for Maguire - bad form, Greek incident, transfer fee thrown in his face, team's bad form, being captain and the responsibility it entails. As soon he starts playing badly, the transfer fee brigade start throwing that back at him like he had any control over it. Some of the nasty personal comments against one of our own players has been pathetic. He was playing really well last season. Obviously there has been a severe dip in form. He clearly needs the support of the club and manager and I have the confidence he can come through it. Lets hope he can and we can see our captain playing back at top form again.
Half the fanbase seems to hate the club, some of the comments directed at Maguire, Ole, etc are truly awful.
 

red4ever 79

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Call me old fashioned, but whatever happened to playing players on form. This picking players based on name has to stop and Ole is guilty of doing that over and over. Pogba has been garbage this season and still we dont see Van De Beek. Large parts of last season Rashford was out of form but still plays all the time. Now it is Maguire. Just drop him and give someone else an opportunity
 

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I can't ever recall any of our footballers having issues like Maguire - so to say that Ferguson would have solved this problem is not correct. I remember Blackmore being accused of rape, but he was cleared fairly quickly. I am sure it may have happened but I cant recall any United-player having a potentially long prison-sentence hanging over their heads
No i can't think of any captains during SAF's reign who had anger issues or were threatened with jail time. unless of course we count Keane and Cantona, two of our most iconic captains who SAF managed through some very tough times. but apart from that, nothing comes to mind.
 

Lu Tze

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The amount of pleasure some posters seem to take in hating Maguire is sickening. He's a good PL defender, who is more than capable of being part of a PL winning defense with competent partners, who has what I would equate to the yips in golf, really bad form that is largely unexplained (with contributing factors including being the most played player in world football, the Greece incident, transfer fee pressure).

Ole needs to give him a break for a couple of weeks and stop trying to play him back into form, it isn't working and he needs to be taken out of the limelight.

I hope people will get behind him a bit more and stop blaming him for factors he can't control such as his transfer fee.
 

Rolaholic

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Half the fanbase seems to hate the club, some of the comments directed at Maguire, Ole, etc are truly awful.
We've been Madridista like for years now in the sense that everyone from our poor or average players to our better players get raked through the coals by large segments of the fanbase the moment they struggle.

Been the case long before Maguire got here with the likes of Lingard, Shaw, Pogba, De Gea, Martial, Smalling, Lindelof and so on. We somehow pride ourselves in backing the club and often managers to the tee yet seem more than fine with abusing our players off the pitch or booing them off it at home.
 

George Beast

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Genuine question, where has the idea that he'll get time off come from? He's going to play this weekend. Not a chance he get's "time off" when he's fully fit and our captain.
 

Raw

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We've been Madridista like for years now in the sense that everyone from our poor or average players to our better players get raked through the coals by large segments of the fanbase the moment they struggle.

Been the case long before Maguire got here with the likes of Lingard, Shaw, Pogba, De Gea, Martial, Smalling, Lindelof and so on. We somehow pride ourselves in backing the club and often managers to the tee yet seem more than fine with abusing our players off the pitch or booing them off it at home.
Don't forget about Fellaini. So fecking embarrassing when he got booed at Old Trafford.
 

TrueRed1999

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Another Harry Maguire thread but this will be a positive one. Unlike other knee jerkers I do not believe his captaincy should be stripped or anything. Every player has dips. I have never seen Harry play as bad as this making basic errors and so I'm confident this is an aberration in otherwise solid career.

Harry Maguire is class and he will come good for us as captain. Somehow because Roy Keane (one of our best captains) was good at shouting people seem to think the shouting is what makes someone a good player to lead. Share all the stupid 30 second clips you want. Maguire will see this through!
He isn't class I am sorry he isn't even in the top 10 defenders in the word, his head has completely gone due to what transpired in Greece in the Summer. A True testament of Ole would be to allow him to take leave for a few weeks to get his head sorted and remove the captaincy to relieve that pressure on his shoulders. I like Harry I do but us sticking with him with leave to Ole being sacked when we let in 20 goals in the next few games due to his head not being in the game.
 

Oldyella

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I can't ever recall any of our footballers having issues like Maguire - so to say that Ferguson would have solved this problem is not correct. I remember Blackmore being accused of rape, but he was cleared fairly quickly. I am sure it may have happened but I cant recall any United-player having a potentially long prison-sentence hanging over their heads
A certain Mr Cantona had some issues if I remember rightly. Evans was accused of rape at one point too?Keane was arrested the night before a game for fighting after chucking drink over some women. The brawl in Galatasary.

Who knows if Fergie could have solved this, personally dont think it's the greek thing that's the issue, he had been poor before then, but Fergie dealt with plenty of similar issues.
 

kkengvib

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I believe Ole is pretty decent at man management. Given his form and the media pressure it may make sense to drop him to get him out of the spotlight.
However, Ole may start him as a vote of confidence to his captain. If he puts in another poor performance though Ole will take the flak.

Ability-wise when he's on form he's still our best CB I think.
Since Tuanzebe is now apparently fit I'd start him with Lindelof/Bailly in the next game. Give the captain armband to Bruno and see how we do against Newcastle?
 

sugar_kane

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I believe Ole is pretty decent at man management. Given his form and the media pressure it may make sense to drop him to get him out of the spotlight.
However, Ole may start him as a vote of confidence to his captain. If he puts in another poor performance though Ole will take the flak.

Ability-wise when he's on form he's still our best CB I think.
Since Tuanzebe is now apparently fit I'd start him with Lindelof/Bailly in the next game. Give the captain armband to Bruno and see how we do against Newcastle?
He's hit and miss at man management I'd say, the De Gea situation shows he's not the type to drop a first teamer even if it's clearly the right thing to do.
 

Bobade

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This old fashioned and quite frankly myopic view is why male suicide is through the roof.

Man up and stop being a crybaby is view that tells men especially not to seek help and that they are weak for doing so, and whilst you can point to millionaire footballers and their life is "easy" what you are doing is essentially saying things that trouble them are somehow less than others because they are rich which is a fallacy as well.
Absolutely spot on mate. Who knows if Maguire is having a difficult time with the Greece stuff at the moment ? Maybe he is , maybe he isn't.

But the guy does his job on the world stage, with every gobshite on the internet and media commenting on his performance, whilst dealing with his legal battles and whatever else happened; unsurprising if he is struggling mentally. And thinking about how others are poorer and how he should just man up isn't really going to help him.
 

Idxomer

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He's a representation of our scattergun approach in the transfer window and lack of any long-term planning for the 1st team.

Here's a player who was heavily scouted by the club for years and was sold for 12m in 2017. Somehow his value increased in one year to 60m or whatever based on not much except some decent games against 2nd rate teams in the world cup, the club dodged the bullet then and refused to get him for Mourinho. It still makes absolutely no sense to go for him at an even higher price a year later but the manager and the club looked at Liverpool and imagined that buying a defender for a world record will solve all the defense problems, they went and bought him for 80m. It's another fraudulent decision, the same that made Smalling leave the club. Backing him as many said is their only option to cover for how stupid was buying him for 80m.
 

Pearl's a minger

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Ole in today's daily mail making excuses for Maguire..." He missed the 1st internationals,he's not had the pre season he's had last year,I'm sure he'll bounce back" Not really sure if he's trying for the sympathy vote. He missed the internationals because he put himself in a position while on holiday that he really didn't need to. Who'd of thought a super wealthy footballer could be a target in a bar after a few drinks?. As for the lack of pre season, he had 4 months off in lockdown then came back for a month or two and he needs another break??? Do me a favour. At least he managed a foreign holiday this year unlike the majority of us. I'd imagine the lack of pre season has made him perform like a donkey and lose the basic ability to defend Or be unable to head a ball. Do me a favour.
 

Untd55

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Done well so far I'd say. Backing him has so far proved to be the right decision.
To be fair, his performances have improved since we have been playing two DMs in front of him. It has left him far less exposed.

I'm not sure whether he is playing better or whether it is mostly down to that. The change has come in line with the change of the first 11.
 

Slik

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To be fair, his performances have improved since we have been playing two DMs in front of him. It has left him far less exposed.

I'm not sure whether he is playing better or whether it is mostly down to that. The change has come in line with the change of the first 11.
I always thought we exposed our defenders too easily sometimes. Ole even said he didn’t have a problem with the defense but the team shape after we lost to crystal palace. Our team shape earlier in the season was making our defenders look shite. It wasn’t their fault really. Ole just corrected things
 

McTerminator

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I have just been catching up on the international action and saw that Maguire scored the opening goal and captained England in a three nil win.

came on here to see people’s thoughts and opinions and was shocked to see nothing on Harry.

Maguire was very solid for us last season and has taken an absolute public beating from all quarters this season and yet he is gradually playing his way back to form for club and country.

surely this is the sort of character we have been desperately crying out for in a United shirt?

In my opinion Maguire can be a title winning centre back. He is that good, but our fan base don’t want to know unless he has made an error or had a bad game. Why? Is it just the price tag? Is doomed to constant criticism simply because the club paid 80m+.

I am reluctant to compare Maguire and Pogba as I think Maguire will do far better for us, but Pogba often faced very unfair criticism simply due to price. Why we insist on doing this to solid players I do not know.

what say the caf?
 

cptkeane1993

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Maguire is excellent. His price tag does not matter, it was the market price at that time and we needed him badly. I'm glad he did not go to City instead.
He improved our defence several fold after we came in his first season at United and with the added responsibility of being captain in the second one. He understands United, is consistent and soon, will get rid of those few off days a season. He needs to add to his game in terms of his long-range passing, being an even better organiser and goals, which I'm sure he recognises himself and the club is working with him on. He is definitely capable of being a key member of a title-winning defence.

As for backing him, I don't believe Ole would have even considered not backing him. And Maguire's loyalty to the club and Ole could only have increased after this episode. I'm excited to see his continued development.
 

RashyForPM

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I must say, Ole has dealt with Maguire magnificently this season. The team's results still aren't up to par but personally, I feel Harry has been one of our better players this season. In the grand scheme of things, he's had one below par game against Spurs, although he was truly awful that day. Ole has done brilliantly to keep playing him and consistently back him in the press, who have been on the hunt for him all season despite him being England's best CB :houllier:.
 

Foxbatt

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I must say, Ole has dealt with Maguire magnificently this season. The team's results still aren't up to par but personally, I feel Harry has been one of our better players this season. In the grand scheme of things, he's had one below par game against Spurs, although he was truly awful that day. Ole has done brilliantly to keep playing him and consistently back him in the press, who have been on the hunt for him all season despite him being England's best CB :houllier:.
I do not think playing with Bailly helped his cause. He was under tremendous pressure during that time and playing with Bailly would have increased it.
 

RashyForPM

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I do not think playing with Bailly helped his cause. He was under tremendous pressure during that time and playing with Bailly would have increased it.
Perhaps, although that is severe underrating of Bailly. In the few times they played together last season, Maguire had very good games against Chelsea and Norwich. I agree though that generally, Maguire is better with Lindelof.
 

JB7

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Perhaps, although that is severe underrating of Bailly. In the few times they played together last season, Maguire had very good games against Chelsea and Norwich. I agree though that generally, Maguire is better with Lindelof.
Bailly is erratic enough to make prime Rio look shaky trying to cover his arse every 5 seconds. It's a joke that he's still at the club.
 

RashyForPM

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Bailly is erratic enough to make prime Rio look shaky trying to cover his arse every 5 seconds. It's a joke that he's still at the club.
As you can probably tell by now, I somewhat rate Bailly. He gets us out of trouble sometimes with his speed and even erratic slide tackling (can't remember many instances as I just woke up :lol:, think Kovacic last season). He should not be the CB we look to prioritise selling. He's still better than Rojo and Jones.
 

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He had a rough month or so and the surface level "fans" were quick to turn on him. I have always maintained he is one of the best defenders in world football right now.