In the Europa League match in the early hours of this morning, England and Germany staged a goal battle, and the two sides ended up in a 3-3 draw and shook hands. With this match, the Three Lions' Europa League match also came to an end, and England, which used to have the title of king of warm-up races, only got 3 points with 3 draws and 3 losses, and the bottom of the group was relegated.
For England, this result is a bit disastrous, after all, in last year's European Championship, they won the final runner-up, which also allows us to see two incredible events this year: the European Cup champion missed the World Cup, and the European Cup runner-up was relegated to the European League.
European Cup final
Speaking of this game, Manchester United captain Maguire undoubtedly continued his frustration at the club, in which Maguire first fouled in the penalty area, brought down Mushara and gave the opponent a penalty. Subsequently, it was his own broken ball, which was counter-attacked by his opponent, and was scored by Havertz with the second goal. Such a state is really a drop in the line for Maguire, and with this relegation with England, this is the fifth relegation of Maguire's career.
As early as 2011, when he played for Sheffield United, Maguire experienced the first relegation of his career, when he was relegated from the Championship to League One with Sheffield United. Then in 2015, Maguire spent the first half of the season at Hull City, then in the Premier League, and the next half of the season was on loan to Championship side Wigan Athletic, and in the end, both teams were relegated.
Hull City later returned to the Premier League, but Maguire spent a dismal 2017 with the team. Hull City only got 9 wins, 7 draws and 22 defeats that year, and once again fell from the Premier League to the Championship. Counting this relegation to Group B with England, this is the fifth time that Maguire has been relegated with the team. It can be said that Maguire's career has indeed been full of ups and downs.
Today's Maguire is indeed in the most frustrated stage of his career, and in the Manchester United squad, he seems to have become an unnecessary presence, although hanging on to the captain's name, but the opportunity to play is pitifully small. Mr. 8700w of yesteryear has only made 5 appearances this season, made 3 starts, and received only 3 yellow cards, which is very different from previous seasons.
Many Manchester United fans are even more panicked about Maguire's appearance, because his state, his turning speed, his dribbling mistakes can always make the team face a very embarrassing situation, not to mention, after seeing Lima's performance, they may not remember the existence of the former team captain. So what really happened to Maguire? What caused the former No. 1 centre-back to fall into such a situation?
Many fans have the question of why Southgate would bring Maguire, who has few opportunities to play at the club. In response to questions from journalists, Southgate said: "I know everyone will pay attention to Maguire, but in fact, in the last two games, he also has some very bright moments. This choice is always controversial, but I think in these moments you have to support these best, most experienced players unless it comes to a point where they are completely untenable. ”
As mentioned earlier, is Maguire really incompetent? Not. After just joining Manchester United, Maguire's performance still made many fans feel very impressive, and soon became the main force and captain of the team. The leadership role in the back line really became indispensable to the Manchester United at that time. But in the past two years, Maguire's status has continued to decline, and many people have been labeled as parallel goods.
However, Maguire's sluggish form is not without reason. The first point is the accumulation of injuries and fatigue. Manchester United fans should be well aware that the team's centre-back reserves have been quite scarce in recent years. With Bailly's frequent injuries, Tuanzebe's difficulty gaining absolute trust, and Jones' perennial lack of play, Maguire, as captain, had to shoulder the responsibility of the back line.
As a player with a large physique, such a accumulation of fatigue will undoubtedly have a huge impact, and the consequence is that he will continue to be injured, which will also make him who is not known for his turning speed further strengthen his problems.
What's more, Maguire is indeed an indispensable presence in today's England centre-back. The quadrennial World Cup is undoubtedly the most important major competition for every national team, in such a high-level stage, experience is naturally an indispensable and important part, in this regard, Maguire naturally occupies an absolute advantage, he followed the team to participate in the 18 World Cup and last year's European Championship, and are the absolute main force, which no one can shake.
At the same time, there are also reasons worth noting, and that is Maguire's leadership. Even if not the main force, he is still the captain of Manchester United, which shows that in Tenhaher's mind, Maguire is still the leader of the team, and he has never expressed any doubts about this. In addition, Trippier also said in the interview: "Harry is an outstanding captain, I am impressed by his leadership and I have a lot of respect for him. "It is excellent leadership that has become the reason why Maguire has a place to remain in England.
From a tactical point of view, England also needs a tall center-back, in today's England squad, only two center-backs have reached a height of more than 190cm, one is the 190cm Dale and the other is the 194cm Maguire. As for the frequent mention of Tomori, the two are not the same type of center-back, Tomori is good at steals and interceptions, there are statistics that show that he has completed 83 successful steals since last season, the most English center-backs, but you know, his height is only 185cm.
Therefore, for Southgate, Maguire is still an indispensable presence of the team, and it is really not difficult to understand. We also hope that in the future, the Manchester United captain can dispel people's doubts and get back to the former state. After all, the 29-year-old is still in his prime and he still has a chance to make a comeback.