Patience a virtue for Harry Maguire as Man Utd defender fights for place

The England centre half looked to be on the way out of Old Trafford last summer.

Sun, 12 Nov, 2023 - 22:30

Ian Whittell, Old Trafford

A season in which Harry Maguire might reasonably have expected to not be playing for Manchester United continued with the England defender cementing his position as Erik ten Hag’s in-form current star.

That, in itself, speaks volumes about the problems facing the United manager after Victor Lindelof’s second-half goal secured an unconvincing win over a poor Luton side.

After all, ten Hag would have been more than happy for Maguire to complete a proposed move to West Ham last summer but eight consecutive starts from the England defender have coincided with the 30-year-old returning to the sort of form that originally convinced United to pay £80 million for his services in 2019.

And for Maguire himself, there is more than an element of vindication for his decision to stay at United, after he had become a by-word for United decline in recent months and seasons.

“Of course,” he said. “I obviously played a few games last year, 16 or 17 I think it was, starts. And I actually felt like I performed really well in the games that I played in, I just didn’t play as many as I would have liked. But, on the other hand, Rapha (Varane) and Licha (Martinez) were playing brilliantly and keeping numerous clean sheets so I had to bide my time, I had to be patient.

“I had two or three opportunities last year to get a run of games in and actually broke down with illness, broke down twice with injuries. So I never got the rhythm, never got the run of games that I could prove myself to the manager.

“I’ve got that now. I played the last I don’t know how many games and I really enjoy my football and really enjoy playing for this club. I was willing to stay and fight for my place.”

England manager Gareth Southgate steadfastly stood by the centre-half throughout his long periods out of the United side and that faith, along with his own experiences, have contributed to Maguire’s vastly-improved form since his recall.

“I thinks obviously your experience helps, the memories that you’ve had, working hard in training is the main thing, making sure you’re ready but I started 16 or 17 games last year and I thought my form was there,” said Maguire.

“There was a lot of talk about me because I wasn’t playing games but I was playing well for my country, went to the World Cup and played really well. So, I always thought my form was there but I was up against some top, top centre-backs and last year they were playing amazing so I just didn’t get as many opportunities as I would have liked.

“But this club demands competition for places and that’s what we’ve got in that position.”

Another player whom United seemed desperate to off-load last summer, Scott McTominay remains the club’s joint-leading league scorer, with Bruno Fernandes on three, as Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Hojlund’s droughts leave their team with just 13 league goals in as many games.

“I see them day in, day out in training and play with internationals next week in England and I play with the lads in training at Manchester United, they're top players, they all have the ability to score goals,” said Maguire.

“At the moment, we're not scoring enough goals, we know that. But I’ve always spoken about set plays are a big part of football and, for me, over the recent years our attacking set-plays have been nowhere near good enough. To start chipping in with little goals, in big moments, from second phases from corners, it’ll do us well and get us more three points.”

MAN UTD (4-2-3-1): Onana 7; Dalot 5, Maguire 7, Lindelof 7, Reguilon 7 (Varane 78, 5); McTominay 7, Eriksen 5 (Mount 39, 5); Rashford 8, Fernandes 6, Garnacho 5 (Antony 68, 5); Hojlund 6 (Martial 78, 5).

Subs not used: Bayindir, Amrabat, Pellistri, Mainoo, Mejbri.

LUTON TOWN (3-4-2-1): Kaminski 7; Mengi 6, Lockyer 7, Osho 6; Kabore 7 (Adebayo 87), Nakamba 6 (Mpanzu 86), Barkley 6, Doughty 5 (Clark 72, 5); Townsend 6 (Chong 60, 5), Ogbene 6 (Giles 86); Morris 6.

Subs not used: Berry, Brown, Krul, Nelson.

Referee: G Scott 7