Solskjaer confirmed Maguire will be the new club captain

[Oldham]

Sad

 

[Class of 63]

Is he the club Captain, or the team Captain? Anyhow it's the right call, Rashford and McTom can fight over the VC for now.

 

[RedRonaldo]

Weird choice. Only been here for couple of months, didn't really show much leadership on the pitch either. Maybe because he is English and relatively more experience than our other players? Or maybe he is influential in the dressing room? Who knows.

 

[Wing Attack Plan R]

When your captain is fourth or fifth choice midfielder then you’ve got a problem. And if we are to truly compete back at the top of the table, that is what McTominay is going to have to be.

When fit McTominay would be the first midfielder name down on the team sheet. If we could bring in 3 or 4 new midfielders one one window who are better, that would be incredible. It's also never gonna happen. Maybe 1 or at best 2 mids per window, and in the meantime McTominay is only growing more into his role and becoming a better player.

Only Pogba of the current crop is better, but since he's crocked until his summer move, McTominay it is.

 

[Jazz]

Rather give it to McTominay to be honest.
We don't have many options but don't think he's proven so far that he has what it takes. Just doesn't inspire confidence.

Anyway, we'll see.

 

[RedRonaldo]

To give captaincy to someone who has been around the club for only a few months (in fact shortest period among the whole squad), and with no previous experience of captaincy, and in fact didn't really impress much so far, is beyond madness.

But there's not much choice either, we are a club in transition, full of either young players or deadwood or players who wants out anyway.

 

[devilish]

Ole should have rotated the captaincy for a year or so, then have a look at the team and decide. The team is devoid of leaders but there are some promising players coming through. McT and Bruno Fernandes are captain material.

 

[OldTrevil]

Strange decision any way you look at it giving a guy who hasn't even completed a year at the club the captaincy. It should have been Pogba in my view, but I guess Ole doesn't feel comfortable enough in his position to make such a bold move and go head on with the deep-rooted vitriol against a generational talent of Pogba's ilk.

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

I still find it odd to give the captaincy to someone who's not even been here a full season.

But there is no stand-out candidate.

 

[sugar_kane]

Strange decision any way you look at it giving a guy who hasn't even completed a year at the club the captaincy. It should have been Pogba in my view, but I guess Ole doesn't feel comfortable enough in his position to make such a bold move and go head on with the deep-rooted vitriol against a generational talent of Pogba's ilk.

no white text?

for someone who is a “generational talent” he hasn’t done much to be remembered for in his 27 years

 

[sullydnl]

Captaincy is overrated. Leaders will be leaders regardless of which of them happens to be wearing the armband on the pitch on a given day. Back in SAF's time we had a host of of past, present and future captain options on the pitch at the same time, with no discernible difference when one was wearing the armband over the other.

It's not for nothing that some clubs regard the captaincy as more of a ceremonial position given the longest serving player, or have leadership groups among the players.

If there's anything to glean from the Maguire appointment it's that it is perhaps indicative of the leadership problems the squad faced that someone who has only been here a few months has been appointed to the role.

There were recent articles suggesting that Solskjaer did in fact have a five man leadership group within the squad: Young, Maguire, De Gea, Rashford and Mata. Leaving aside which of them happens to have the armband at a given time, some of the issues that faced Solskjaer upon his arrival at the club can be seen here. Young was an aging squad player (and has now left), Mata was a squad player whose contract was running out (and indeed many complained when it was renewed), De Gea (who is perhaps in that group because of a stature gained from extended outstanding service to the club rather than being a vocal presence) was also running down a contract with doubts over his future, Maguire wasn't yet at the club and Rashford was a young player who had yet to establish himself as the focal point of our attack.

 

[TwoSheds]

Well it was him or McTominay really wasn't it, and I'd like to think United are planning to have a squad in the future that's good enough that McTominay isn't guaranteed a spot in the side, so Maguire makes sense to me. Rashford is a leader too but I think he's still too young, and I'd rather have a central defender or midfielder as skip personally anyway.

 

[duffer]

Giving to Pogba would've been a real statement of intent (from both OGS and Pogba himself).

Maguire is the obvious choice if Pogba is buggering off.

 

[Bastian]

Giving to Pogba would've been a real statement of intent (from both OGS and Pogba himself).

Maguire is the obvious choice if Pogba is buggering off.

I think Ole has gone to the moon and back in how he's indulged Pogba and always spun things in a positive way even when the player wants out and uses his agent to drag the club through the mud. Giving the captaincy to Pogba would be the ultimate capitulation of no one being bigger than the club.

Also, Pogba is not a leader.

 

[Mr. MUJAC]

To give captaincy to someone who has been around the club for only a few months (in fact shortest period among the whole squad), and with no previous experience of captaincy, and in fact didn't really impress much so far, is beyond madness.

But there's not much choice either, we are a club in transition, full of either young players or deadwood or players who wants out anyway.

That might have been true 12 months ago but not any longer.

De Gea, Wan Bissaka, Maguire, Lindelof, Shaw/Williams, Pogba, McTominay, Fred, Martial, Rashford, James, Matic, Mata, Lingard, Greenwood...

Out of the players on that list, only Matic might be regarded as deadwood and only Pogba who might be regarded as wanting out.

So when you look at it, the choice was between Mata, Maguire, De Gea and Pogba.

Makes sense to me given the choices available.

 

[Cnaiür urs Skiötha]

Somehow this is ridiculous. A few months at the club and he does not really come across as a real leader. Not sure but I believe he never was captain for Leicester?

Even weirder is that I think he is the right choice respectively the only valid choice.
He is a first teamer, outfield player, part of our long term future.
He is an English international and comes across as top professional and good role model for younger players.

So as laughable the fact is that we have zero leadership in the team I fully agree with this appointment.

 

[fps]

Weird choice. Only been here for couple of months, didn't really show much leadership on the pitch either. Maybe because he is English and relatively more experience than our other players? Or maybe he is influential in the dressing room? Who knows.

Not only is captain about what happens off the pitch, on the pitch he is clearly the one organising people. He’s the obvious and clear choice.

 

[Di Maria's angel]

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25 goals is also the third highest number of goals we've conceded at this stage of the season since SAF retired.

It's a weird decision regardless. He's been here half a year, hasn't really improved our defence, yet, and doesn't really lead in any way. Maybe it'll turn out to be the right choice.

Maybe becoming captain will give him more of a license to lead?

 

[JPRouve]

25 goals is also the third highest number of goals we've conceded at this stage of the season since SAF retired.

It's a weird decision regardless. He's been here half a year, hasn't really improved our defence, yet, and doesn't really lead in any way. Maybe it'll turn out to be the right choice.

Maybe becoming captain will give him more of a license to lead?

That's not a thing though, if you need license to lead then you aren't a natural leader and most likely not a leader at all.

 

[RedRonaldo]

That might have been true 12 months ago but not any longer.

De Gea, Wan Bissaka, Maguire, Lindelof, Shaw/Williams, Pogba, McTominay, Fred, Martial, Rashford, James, Matic, Mata, Lingard, Greenwood...

Out of the players on that list, only Matic might be regarded as deadwood and only Pogba who might be regarded as wanting out.

So when you look at it, the choice was between Mata, Maguire, De Gea and Pogba.

Makes sense to me given the choices available.

Yeh it make sense, as he is the only who is English, who doesn't wants out, and is regular first team player at the same time.
In other words, he is made captain because we don't have a decent choice there.

 

[Mr. MUJAC]

Yeh it make sense, as he is the only who is English, who doesn't wants out, and is regular first team player at the same time.
In other words, he is made captain because we don't have a decent choice there.

It's called rebuilding...

 

[Rhyme Animal]

no white text?

for someone who is a “generational talent” he hasn’t done much to be remembered for in his 27 years

No white text yourself...?

Pogba -

4 Serie As
2 Coppa Italias
1 World Cup
1 Europa
1 League Cup
2 Supercoppa Italias
1 Under 20 World Cup

Maguire -

1 Football League Play Offs

 

[RedRonaldo]

It's called rebuilding...

Can't remember any other club appointed a captain from a new recruit without any prior captaincy experience during their rebuilding.

 

[Rhyme Animal]

Also, Pogba is not a leader.

Speech to France squad before going out and winning the World Cup...

 

[Leftback99]

Speech to France squad before going out and winning the World Cup...

Maybe everyone inside the club knows Pogba is leaving in the summer.

 

[Mr. MUJAC]

Can't remember any other club appointed a captain from a new recruit without any prior captaincy experience during their rebuilding.

Maybe all the other clubs weren't full of young players.

The only 'regular' players older than Maguire are:

Mata 31
Matic 31
Rojo 29
De Gea 29
Jones 27
Lingard 27

I suppose Ole could have given it to Mata or De Gea. Pogba is in with a shout but a cloud over his future.

Apart from those two, everyone else is younger than Maguire who also has a total of 362 first team appearances behind him and 26 England caps.

You can only get captain experience when someone gives you a chance to be captain.

 

[Bastian]

Speech to France squad before going out and winning the World Cup...

I had a hunch that would come up. Counter-evidence: his whole career, especially at United, not with a camera on him in a World Cup Final as the favorites 5 mins before the match.

 

[OldTrevil]

no white text?

for someone who is a “generational talent” he hasn’t done much to be remembered for in his 27 years

The irony...your post is the one needing white text.

If you cannot see Pogba's immense qualities after watching him for three years, and go on to willfully ignore all that he has won including being a leader on a world cup winning team, then there's nothing to discuss with you about the guy.

 

[Rhyme Animal]

Maybe everyone inside the club knows Pogba is leaving in the summer.

Very possible.

I had a hunch that would come up.

I'm sure you did matey - that'll be because being a leader in a dressing room that goes and wins the World Cup will likely be raised if you suggest said player 'isn't a leader' or in the case of @sugar_kane - 'hasn't achieved anything of note in his career'!

It's called 'Cognitive Dissonance' - the 'hunch' you talk of is actually your inner logic trying to tell you that you're talking a load of shite that is based on nothing other than your own flawed bias, rather than a sound, logical opinion based on fact and data.

 

[sugar_kane]

Very possible.



I'm sure you did matey - that'll be because being a leader in a dressing room that goes and wins the World Cup will likely be raised if you suggest said player 'isn't a leader' or in the case of @sugar_kane - 'hasn't achieved anything of note in his career'!

It's called 'Cognitive Dissonance' - the 'hunch' you talk of is actually your inner logic trying to tell you that you're talking a load of shite that is based on nothing other than your own flawed bias, rather than a sound, logical opinion based on fact and data.

That’s literally not what I said, I said he hasn’t done much to be remembered for.

Theres a big difference.

Juan Mata has won a decent haul in his career as well but I wouldn’t describe him as a “generational talent”. I could list plenty of United players with even bigger trophy hauls but I wouldn’t describe them in those terms.

Generational talent conjures up images of Pele, Cruyff, Best, Messi, Ronaldo. Legends.

Pogba hasn’t done much yet in his career to be truly remembered by as a generational talent.

He played his part in the World Cup win but it was massively over-egged by the media and his obsessive online fan base.

I certainly won’t remember him for much at United bar the City comeback and agitating for a move for the majority of his time here.

He has talent and plenty of it, I’m not denying that nor have I ever, but he needs to do more to be remembered for.

 

[Bastian]

Very possible.



I'm sure you did matey - that'll be because being a leader in a dressing room that goes and wins the World Cup will likely be raised if you suggest said player 'isn't a leader' or in the case of @sugar_kane - 'hasn't achieved anything of note in his career'!

It's called 'Cognitive Dissonance' - the 'hunch' you talk of is actually your inner logic trying to tell you that you're talking a load of shite that is based on nothing other than your own flawed bias, rather than a sound, logical opinion based on fact and data.

Haha. I enjoyed that. You see a leader after that clip, I look at all his games for us and see something totally different.

 

[stepic]

obvious choice

people suggesting McT should be captain, feck me. People are so weird

 

[Cockney Phil]

Speech to France squad before going out and winning the World Cup...

Maybe French could be an issue.
Do our British players know or understand any foreign languages?

 

[Cockney Phil]

When there are no good candidates about the captaincy is ‘meaningless’, when they’re legends like, Robson, Eric and Keano it’s ‘inspirational‘ leadership.
The present lot offer a miserable choice that reflects the state of the club.
Harry has been pretty poor in his recent play and when the squad is losing he’s not a leader, a blamer maybe.

 

[Mr Anderson]

Maguire is a no brainer choice from the crop we have. De Gea doesn’t command his area well, so rather not have him to have to try lead on the pitch as well. Pogba - just no, have enough flack with him at the club as it is and he isn’t deserving of it.

Rest of the lads are too young, still developing their experience and game so the added pressure isn’t desired.

Also my preference is a leader from the back anyway, for organisation purposes.

 

[Rhyme Animal]

Maybe French could be an issue.
Do our British players know or understand any foreign languages?

Pogba speaks good English...

 

[Rhyme Animal]

Harry has been pretty poor in his recent play and when the squad is losing he’s not a leader, a blamer maybe.

Maybe we could do him our own 'Terry' banner...

'Captain, Blamer, New Signing'

 

[Ronaldo's Mum Eh?]

Sub par performances, not worth anything near his fee.. this is just sad but I know we had no other option.

He needs to step it up, big time.

 

[Son]

I don’t get the Maguire hate from some fans.

He’s consistently been one of our top performers & is the obvious choice as captain.

Personally apart from Rashford who’s had a brilliant season so far Maguire is the second name on the team sheet. I rate him as worth every penny we spent.

 

[Ronaldo's Mum Eh?]

I don’t get the Maguire hate from some fans.

He’s consistently been one of our top performers & is the obvious choice as captain.

Personally apart from Rashford who’s had a brilliant season so far Maguire is the second name on the team sheet. I rate him as worth every penny we spent.

You've really set the bar low. He's nowhere near worth anything we paid. Leicester sold him and now have the best defence in the league. Go figure.