Maguire is shit right now and was shit at the start of last season. But Bailly's been worse at times, and crap and/or injured most of the time.
At least with Maguire/Lindelof they are dependable injury wise most of the time. And mostly solid in their performances when they are fit. Which is why Bailly is 4th choice.
It does Bailly was worse then as well.
We don’t agree, I’m good with that. Don’t throw around nonsense like short memories though when it’s still clear in my mind how Maguire made Stanislas & the mighty Bournemouth look like peak a peak Barca attack, Bergwijn look like Usain Bolt & played the whole of the Southampton team onside whilst standing about like a statue as long as 2 seasons ago. He isn’t just shit ‘right now’, he’s been piss poor for seasons.The bar for the man is, ‘better than Smalling’ which is criminally low.
Maguire > Bailly isn’t the discussion. It’s clear we’d disagree but again, I can deal with that. We agree as far as fitness though, for all Bailly strengths & weaknesses they don’t often matter as he’s been injured.
He really hasn’t though. All our defenders have had shockers, but neither Lindelof nor Bailly have been afforded time to be as bad, for as long as Maguire.
My point is/was certain players are afforded multiple opportunities to play well after poor performances where as others are not. Bailly has been fit most of the season - Maguire should be nowhere near the team currently. There’s no point saying he’s ‘dependable injury wise’ when after each poor performance people blame his ‘lack of match fitness’.
It’s always an excuse with the guy, ‘just getting back up to pace after lockdown’, ‘his arrest has unnerved him’, ‘he’s not fully fit’ when infact it’s that he’s not actually very good for very long periods. I think just how bad he’s been this season is being understated, along with some of his worse performances in previous seasons. I’ve seen Bailly have some stinkers but some of the stuff I see Maguire do game on game is shambolic.