Harry Maguire, who was on the release list from Manchester United, received a lot of trust from manager Gareth Southgate and maintained his position as a regular starter in the England national soccer team.
The British media ‘Daily Mirror’ reported on the 9th (Korean time)
Coach Southgate has expressed great confidence in Harry Maguire and plans to nominate Maguire as a starter.”
The England national soccer team is set to face Ukraine in the 5th round of Group C of the 2024 UEFA European Football Championship qualifiers
which will be held at the Wroclaw City Stadium in Wroclaw, Poland, at 1 a.m. on the 10th.
England and Ukraine were placed in Group C along with Italy
North Macedonia and Malta in the preliminary round to determine the teams that will advance to the tournament to be held in Germany in June 2024.
England is currently leading Group C with 12 points (4 wins), and Ukraine, which has played one less game than England, is in 2nd place with 6 points (2 wins, 1 loss).
This match, which was originally supposed to be held in Ukraine, was held in Poland, a neutral country, due to the Russian invasion.
Coach Southgate, who has won all four matches to date and is aiming for a direct ticket to the finals
which is given only to the top player in the group 지울프-토토
attracted attention by predicting that Maguire would be selected for the match against Ukraine.
Maguire, a large defender with a height of 194cm and a weight of 100kg
was not only pushed out of competition for the starting position within Manchester United last season
but was also placed on the release list as he lost the captain’s armband to Bruno Fernandes ahead of the new season.
West Ham United showed great interest in recruiting Maguire
but the transfer did not materialize due to personal compensation issues.
The only game Maguire has played in since the season opened was against Arsenal in the 4th round of the 2023/24 Premier League season on the 4th.
Maguire, who was included on the bench list at the time
was brought on in the 22nd minute of the second half to replace Argentine center back Lisandro Martinez, who suffered a blow to his foot.
The result of the game was a 1-3 defeat for Manchester United.
Even though he was being used as a candidate by his own team, coach Southgate, who had always rated Maguire highly and selected him as the starting center back for the England national team
showed his unwavering trust in him.
Although Maguire was pushed out of competition for the starting spot in Manchester United
he appeared as a starter in all five games from the group stage to the quarterfinals at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, and played full-time as a starter in all four A matches played in 2023.
At a press conference ahead of the Ukraine match
Southgate said:
Maguire is looking good.
He is training with the best players every day. He came on at a crucial moment against Arsenal, and as a defender he played well in those situations.
It’s not ideal to compete
he said.
“Of course Maguire is an experienced player and he has performed very well in training
he added.
He knows where our support is.
He added:
We know Maguire needs to continue to play well for us and given what’s going on with the team due to injuries
I think he could get plenty of playing time for United over the next few weeks.
Currently, Manchester United’s key defender Raphael Varane is expected to miss up to six weeks after suffering an injury in the 3rd round match against Nottingham in the league on the 26th of last month.
Victor Lindelof and Lisandro Martinez were also suspected of being injured
but they avoided major injuries and headed to the national team to play the September international schedule.
However, it is expected that Manchester United will have no choice but to appoint Maguire in order to manage the players’ physical strength as they will have to compete in three competitions simultaneously – the Premier League, Champions League group stage, and League Cup – after the international match period ends.
Manchester United was placed in Group A with Bayern Munich (Germany), Copenhagen (Denmark), and Galatasaray (Turkiye) in the 2023/24 Champions League group stage.
They will face Crystal Palace in the third round of the League Cup on the 27th.
Although Maguire is experiencing difficulties in his own team, he is receiving a lot of trust from the coach in the national team.
Attention is focused on whether Maguire will be able to live up to coach Southgate’s trust by performing well in England’s first international match in September.