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2019-20 Performances


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6.0 Season Average Rating
Appearances
55
Clean sheets
24
Goals
3
Assists
1
Yellow cards
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kouroux

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I think you need to look at our transfer dealings as a whole. It has been a complete mess which the made the huge Maguire's transfer fee look bad.

Making Fred our only option for a new CM and not getting a replacement for Lukaku led us to this conundrum. Add to that the utterly bizzare decision to let Smalling go on loan while Rojo, Jones and Bailly stayed.

Personally, I think getting Maguire is the right move, we desperately needed another first choice CB. I do not know whether are we tied down financially by the 80m transfer fee, but it seems like we weren't even in the market for a midfielder or attacker ever since we signed Fred. I can only recall the Bruno Fernandes and Dybala talks which ended up being a load of hot air.
You are right. The whole transfer process has been stupid. I rate Maguire but not for that kinda money, he just isn't good enough for a world world fee, whether it's from football or marketing stand point
 

Revan

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Amazing how these excellent CB's play in the best teams in Europe eh? Weren't so excellent before they were bought as I'm sure based on what we know in hindsight, others might have tried to sign them too. It's also amazing how some of these players we sign were good before they came here, but turned to shite after. Also amazing how good players sign for good managers who then actually make the better!!! Rather the apportioning all the blame on players, we need to look at ourselves too. Frightening on how Harry was a better player in a Leicester shirt than a Utd one but he's not on his own. If I was say Maddison, I'd be staying.....
VVD and Laporte at Soton/Bilbao were significantly better than Maguire for Leicester. Maguire is a decent CB whom could have done a great job if he had a world class CB next to him (similar to how Brown/Evans were great when partnered with Rio/Vidic) but he won't ever be a 80m player, or a defense general for a team who win titles.
 

Cassidy

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At the end of last season, a CB and RB were as urgent a need as anything. Right wing up there as well. Midfield and striker became a much bigger need when Herrera left on a free and Lukaku left with no replacement.

I'll say it a million times. Maguire and Wan Bissaka were absolutely necessary signings and I'm delighted we signed them. We just needed a lot more than just them. There was no 1 or 2 signing solution to our squad, and there still isn't. So people shouldnt shit on the players who are actually doing well, when we are being let down elsewhere. Where is the logic in blaming our 2 actually performing defensive players for us dropping points when we have 2 others who just arent very good, but also when we can't score more than 1 goal a game. We basically have to keep a clean sheet to win a game. That's not going to happen regularly enough to be a viable strategy no matter how good your defence is.

And it's not a lack of money that was the reason for not buying more. We ended the summer with a net spent of like 60-70m with a big clear out in wages. Financially we could easily have spent a lot more, and should have. So people need to stop blaming us actually addressing 2 problem positions as reasons why we didn't address others. They arent related. It should all have been done.
Wan Bissaka was necessary. Maguire wasn’t.

Smalling would be just as decent as Maguire is now. Our defensive issues came mainly from the fullback positions on both sides and central midfield.

Matic decline and Herrera loss as well as losing Fellaini (who helped out the defence aerially since our goal keeper cannot come from crosses)

What we needed to sort out defence was fullbacks and a replacement for Matic.

Obviously a CB would have also been great but as you see now they still get exposed by the midfield and of course Maguire is not a big enough upgrade on Smalling either.
 

MadDogg

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The only thing Maguire brought us was having better control on the ball than Smalling, but defensively, he hasn't been an improvement that much over Smalling which is bad as I consider Smalling a good squad option only. People overrate our defense.
There's not many who are an improvement on Smalling defensively. His on-the-ball ability is poor so he could definitely be improved on, but if we are talking purely his defensive ability it is very good. Anybody who watched Maguire a decent amount knew he wasn't as good defensively as Smalling, although his all-round game makes him a better player overall.

The thing is that many people (and Ole himself) expected Maguire to be the upgrade for Smalling, when perhaps the better idea would have been Maguire as the upgrade for Lindelof. That would have been a pure upgrade in almost every way (a small loss of pace but nothing major). Many of us saw the potential issues of a Maguire/Lindelof partnership and although it's still early, some of those issues have been seen.
 

lsd

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There s a certain dislike for him here because if the fee paid and also for some because he s English.
Being English for some people means that he s overrated, hence his shortcomings are analysed and amplified

Or its just his shortcomings
 

elánius

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An average defender with a huge price tag on his name, nothing new from our management. I actually hoped he will have much much bigger impact, like VvD had to Liverpool players or at least close to this kind of impact. But Maguire is just one of many, he is on par with Smalling in defense, he is not a leader of our defence, he makes many mistakes and sadly Lindelof next to him is even worse than before (if it is even possible).

For 40-50 mil. pounds it would be fine, but he is world record tranfer...
 

Cassidy

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There s a certain dislike for him here because if the fee paid and also for some because he s English.
Being English for some people means that he s overrated, hence his shortcomings are analysed and amplified
This is ridiculous. Rio Ferdinand was English.
He is being scrutinised for his short comings, just like Lindelof is
 

Roboc7

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This is ridiculous. Rio Ferdinand was English.
He is being scrutinised for his short comings, just like Lindelof is
I think a lot of people just look at Maguire as being better than what we had so doesn’t matter how much he cost. He has been better, nothing special but has more to offer I’m sure. Never a 60m player let alone 80-85 though.

The issue with that is when we massively over spend on one player it means there is less money to spend elsewhere.
 

Cassidy

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I think a lot of people just look at Maguire as being better than what we had so doesn’t matter how much he cost. He has been better, nothing special but has more to offer I’m sure. Never a 60m player let alone 80-85 though.

The issue with that is when we massively over spend on one player it means there is less money to spend elsewhere.
I'm not entirely convinced but time will tell

He has had good games and some poor ones too, which is a bit like Smalling
 

AneRu

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I think a lot of people just look at Maguire as being better than what we had so doesn’t matter how much he cost. He has been better, nothing special but has more to offer I’m sure. Never a 60m player let alone 80-85 though.

The issue with that is when we massively over spend on one player it means there is less money to spend elsewhere.
This will become apparent should the team actually grow to potential title challengers where results such as a draw could be fatal in a close race, a single error be the difference between a long awaited title or another disappointing season.
 

kundalini

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Some good defending but 2 horrible passes straight to a Partizan player in our half.
 

Laphroaig

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Bored with not having any defending to do, so kept giving the ball away. This guy is supposed to be good on the ball?
 

LoneStar

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He needs to be more ‘aggressive’ with his ball playing. You see VVD pick out long balls time and again to Salah or Mane. He’s definitely more comfortable on the ball than our other defenders, but needs to start to feed it into the forwards more often.

Also pretty disappointed with his heading so far. He gives away a lot of fouls during corners. That point blank miss from close range also comes to mind.

Was never an 80mil defender, but if he can pick up on these areas, he’s more than good enough to be a starter for years to come.
 

RedRonaldo

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I don’t have much issues with him, although I do think he plays more like what I’d expect from a 30m CB, rather than from a 80m CB.
 

AFC NimbleThumb

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The moment where he somehow crumbled into a heap near the halfway line whilst the oppo player strides off pretty much sums up how I think his career for us has begun.

Very good defender, never worth £80mil in that window for us given our squad composition & stage we’re at.
 

11101

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That Sadiq fella really has his number. Looked much more composed after he went off.
The same Sadiq who didn't get past him once and didn't get a single shot off?

Maguire just looks a little frazzled at the moment. He could do with a week off.
 

El Zoido

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Not his best game but every player has an off day. The caf loves to draw huge conclusions from a single game..
 

GlasgowCeltic

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The narrative around Maguire and the reality of what he is as a player are a fair way apart
 

Cassidy

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Not his best game but every player has an off day. The caf loves to draw huge conclusions from a single game..
He has had a few not so good games of late. However his reputation masks this for some

He is also new here, hopefully he steps it up because that reputation and being new thing wont last all season
 

Machine Elements

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Can't still believe we paid £80-85m for a couple of "line-breaking passes". Rojo also plays those forward passes occasionally but I didn't see his passing from the back to get hyped up and he was deemed to be shit & scapegoated along with Smalling & Jones in the last 5 years. Never a £ 50m CB let alone £80m.
 

lsd

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He has had a few not so good games of late. However his reputation masks this for some

He is also new here, hopefully he steps it up because that reputation and being new thing wont last all season

Would we have been better keeping Smalling and spenfmding the money on a defensive midfielder though ? Especially since Axel was coming through as well and there was little doubt he would be a good player
 

Cassidy

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Would we have been better keeping Smalling and spenfmding the money on a defensive midfielder though ? Especially since Axel was coming through as well and there was little doubt he would be a good player
I agree yes a CDM midfielder and fullbacks were more important than a CB
 

El Zoido

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Would we have been better keeping Smalling and spenfmding the money on a defensive midfielder though ? Especially since Axel was coming through as well and there was little doubt he would be a good player
Yeah maybe, though we needed (and can afford) both. It shouldn’t be one or the other. Maguire is better than Smalling, I have no doubt about that.
 

Alfie092

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Been average for us so far and if you are judging him of his price tag then he is far from a £80m player at this moment in time.

Wasn't one of the key reasons we signed him was for his ball-playing abilities? I haven't seen enough of him showing this so far and yesterday he gave me a mini heart-attack on 1 or 2 occasions when he casually passed the ball to a Partizan player! Saying that, he is our best ball-playing defender, I just expected more.

Still believe he will end up coming good but I think he could do with a little break (mentally too) as he is basically playing every game for us and England. I hope Southgate rests him during the international break!
 

DRM

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He is the least of our worries ffs...who gives a shit about how much he cost?!
 

SATA

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He’s fine but he certainly loves a tumble at least once during a match. He nearly self-injured himself last night while trying to play a simple short pass with his left peg. Can’t help to think if it’s just a rarity or he’s just too big and cumbersome
 

Alabaster Codify7

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I don't think so. Just the posters who had made up their mind before we signed him finding little reasons to refuse to admit that they were wrong.

Not me. I was well up for the signing. I'm a big fan. But even I have to admit he hasn't been the amazing buy I thought he'd be. I thought he'd bring some real leadership back there and I'm not seeing it so far. He's just been 'good' and for 80m you want 'excellent'. I'm not seeing a massive upgrade on Smalling, but I think he definitely needs a better partner.Lindelof is gash.
 

Bilbo

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We needed leaders. Maguire appears to be one, as well as a fine centre back. We overpaid a little - obviously - but we can offset that with the sales of Smalling and Rojo/Jones and still have ample options in the position.
 

lsd

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He is the least of our worries ffs...who gives a shit about how much he cost?!

Firstly anytime someone says not to worry about the fee its because the player is not living up to the fee.

Secondly when you have wasted as much money as we have the past few years with nothing to show for it you worry about the fee for every player you buy
 

Ekeke

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We needed leaders. Maguire appears to be one, as well as a fine centre back. We overpaid a little - obviously - but we can offset that with the sales of Smalling and Rojo/Jones and still have ample options in the position.
What has suggested that hes a leader?
 

DRM

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IS the Caf turning on Maguire now? - oh goody.
Seems that way.
It's only a matter of time before they turn on AWB - "good defender but can't cross" "not fit to lace TAA's boots" "for 50 million i'd expect much more".

Bloody joke if you ask me :rolleyes:
 
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