Maguire Deserves So Much More From Tuchel and England

Harry Maguire drew strong criticism for performances that contributed to heavy defeats, including a home loss to Liverpool and a subsequent 2-0 defeat to Manchester City. He was described as doing little to energize the team and was singled out by press and fans. After a derby loss, he scored for England against Albania, and his celebration was viewed as disrespectful given United’s struggles. Despite earlier infuriating moments and frequent mockery, his later season for Manchester United was praised as a significant improvement. The omission from Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup squad was presented as difficult to understand, especially after one of his best seasons and his history of being selected for major tournaments when calm leadership was needed.

"A couple of months in to the 2021-22 campaign, we got absolutely thrashed by Liverpool at home. While the whole team, with special mention to Luke Shaw, also had a horror show of a performance, Maguire was horrible that game. He was more culpable for some goals than others but played a part in all five. It was shocking."

"Two weeks later, we lost 2-0 to City, and we were awful. It was so depressing. It turned out to be Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's penultimate game in charge, with captain Maguire doing little to get his team going. He was singled out for criticism in the press and from the fans."

"A few days after the derby day defeat he was playing for England in a World Cup qualifier against Albania and scored. There have been a lot of infuriating moments for United fans over the last decade or so, but watching Maguire knee slide and cup his ears in celebration tipped me over the edge. How dare he. The captain of United, seeing us suffer back to back home thrashings against our biggest rivals, and he's giving it the big 'un because he scored against... Albania."

"There have been times when Maguire has been shocking for United but would still get in every England squad. So it's unfathomable that now, after one of the greatest seasons in his career, he's been left out of Thomas Tuchel's World Cup squad. For years now, Maguire has been the easiest player in the country to mock. Every mistake becomes a meme, every defeat somehow circles back to him, and every success is quietly ignored."

Read at Republik Of Mancunia: A Manchester United Blog