Harry Maguire has been a major hit and miss for Manchester United this season and more often than not, the defender is the reason why United falter in defence and end up dropping points.
The club paid a massive transfer fee to sign the centre-back back in 2019 but he’s not been able to justify his price tag at all and with each passing season, the 28-year-old has actually gotten worse.
He was under the scanner once again as Man United were held to a draw by Burnley in the Premier League, a side who have picked up only 14 points from their 20 matches.
Since that 1-1 draw, there have been calls to bench Harry Maguire and according to former United midfielder Kleberson, United look much more stable in defence when Harry Maguire is not playing.
“Manchester United look far more assured with Raphael Varane and Victor Lindelof at the back, rather than Harry Maguire,” Kleberson told Paddy Power, as quoted by talkSPORT.
“Harry Maguire is an excellent player and a very experienced one. He Maguire organises the back-line well but has had a tough time this season in the Premier League, particularly in one-vs-one situations and where he has been short of pace. Speed really troubles him.
“By taking a step back out of the team, he [Maguire] will understand how he can improve by seeing what it is that he needs to get better at, and how he can play better with the other players around him.
🗣️ Rafael Van der Vaart on Harry Maguire:
"He is really s**t. You find a player like this at every amateur club in the Netherlands." 😳 #MUFC pic.twitter.com/GTmCMkBkzj
— Man United News (@ManUtdMEN) February 9, 2022
“He will have an opportunity to come back into the first team. But at the moment, it’s tough to keep putting him in the team and letting opponents take advantage.
“A lot of people have given plenty of thoughts on Harry Maguire recently. It would be a smart move from Ralf Rangnick to take him out for now, but he’ll be back and finish the season off in the team.”
Will Harry Maguire be dropped to the bench against Southampton?
Man United take on Southampton on Saturday and since Ralf Rangnick doesn’t shy away from making bold selection calls, there’s a big chance that Victor Lindelof will come back into the side.
For the Burnley game, Harry Maguire got a rating of just 6.7 out of 10 and throughout the match, he made only 49 accurate passes and he managed to win only 63% of his ground duels.
Victor Lindelof’s first half by numbers vs Aston Villa:
100% ground duels won
94% pass accuracy
3 ball recoveries
3 attempted long balls
2 successful long balls
2/2 tackles won
2 clearancesSolid first 45. ❄️🇸🇪 pic.twitter.com/TcnvfIKYCR
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) January 15, 2022
The centre-back was really lucky not to be sent off on Tuesday and now that Lindelof has sorted out his personal issues, the manager should have no problems in playing the Swede alongside Varane.
The Saints really dominated Tottenham in their midweek fixture and if Hassenhutl’s side can come up with a similar performance then Harry Maguire will surely not be able to cope with it. The defender is not blessed with pace and with players like Ward-Prowse in the side, any ball over the top and the 28-year-old will be scrambling back like crazy.
United’s interim boss had previously pushed Lindelof up the pecking order but then he had to revert to using Harry Maguire because the Swede had to deal with a personal problem. But now since all of that is sorted, we expect Harry Maguire to be benched for the Man United vs Southampton game.
