Manchester United center-back Harry Maguire has become almost a running joke among football fans during his 175 appearances for the club since 2019.
Most recently, he has even been audibly booed in pre-season friendly matches this summer and it comes to the point where you wonder, will anyone stop to think about how this might affect the player himself?
The 30-year-old hasn’t helped himself at times with his performances; notably in some games in the 21/22 season under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick (Where of course, very few players actually played well at all), and in one or two of the latter games of last season.
However, fans quickly forget the Harry Maguire that helped lead the club to two top-four finishes in the Premier League and a European final – not to mention the almost unanimous panic from fans when it turned out he was injured for that final. He was also given the club captaincy after being recognised by Solskjaer as the standout leader in the squad in 2020.
And even besides that, his incredible consistency for England has even been called into question. Despite practically not putting a foot wrong for his country in an important game since making his international debut, he has even been booed for them too.
Maguire’s “Poor” performances have been harshly over-exaggerated for both club and country and it is perhaps good for his mental health that he no longer has what probably seemed like a burden at times to him in the captain’s armband – which served as an excuse for many to pin United’s poor performances of the past all on him.
It is no wonder that the former skipper’s confidence has looked shattered as it seems inevitable that United fans only want to criticize the man, without any thought as to how it might affect him. It may now be a good thing for him (Even though he would serve as a quite capable backup for United) to get a move and a fresh start at West Ham (Rumoured to be interested) – where he would not feel as pressured by the past.
You only need to look at Phil Jones (Another English former Manchester United center-back, which probably isn’t a coincidence) to see how fan and media treatment can ruin a player’s reputation and confidence.
It remains to be seen whether or not he will leave but if he can regain his self-belief, there is no doubt he will end up excelling again for his next club and hopefully, there he will gain back some of the respect he deserves from football fans.
Read More Manchester United Coverage:
- Report: Manchester United Have Lowered Their Asking Price For Fred Amid Galatasaray Interest
- Report: Real Sociedad Have Formally Approached Manchester United For Donny Van De Beek
- Report: Manchester United’s Matej Kovar Has Interest From Top Seven Premier League Club
- Report: Fiorentina Midfielder Sofyan Amrabat’s Priority This Summer Is Manchester United
- Report: Manchester United Considering Moves For Jean-Clair Todibo & Jarrad Branthwaite
Follow The Utd Transfer Room: Twitter | Facebook & Instagram Coming Soon