The criticism Maguire received in the past was completely disproportionate to the level of his performance, but more appropriately aligned to the size of his transfer fee. The problem is, the player can't control what the club paid for him. Given his fee, people expected a combination of Ferdinand and Maldini...at least in order to justify paying so much. But anyone who had watched him play previously knew that the fee was completely out of whack for the quality of the player. What we were getting was a very competent centre-back with a decent capability to play out from the back. If he'd cost 40m his time here would be looked at quite differently, because for various spells he has been very good. He's also had spells when he was below the standard required, but he's very rarely been outright terrible. What is notable about him is that he has been the subject of quite a lot of derision from United and England fans, often despite performing quite well, and he has almost always acted professionally, gotten his head down and worked hard to turn his fortunes around. He has shown a great work ethic and a lot of mental resilience to survive at the club. I think he remains a valuable squad player, who I never mind seeing in the starting XI, because 8/10 he gives a solid performance, and occasionally an absolutely exceptional one. He has always been, and continues to be, quite good on the ball. An often undervalued part of his game. He is generally an all around better defensive option than Martinez, who is generally lauded by fans due to his balls to the wall style and exceptional progressive passing, but who has a number of glaring defensive deficiencies, and a shocking fitness record.
My expectations for Maguire are appropriate to his level of ability, rather than his transfer fee. I expect solid defensive positioning, performance and leadership, and competent progression of the ball. I see him as a mature and consistent performer who can generally be relied upon to give a 7/10 game in, game out.
More like Harrincha.