“We’re all very quick to judge. There’ll be people ripping him apart on social media…”
Harry Maguire’s wretched slump in form continued on Wednesday night, as his sending off for England contributed to a Nations League defeat by Denmark at Wembley.
Buoyed by the weekend win over Belgium, England had controlled the early stages of the game, the tide only turning in favour of the visitors shortly after Maguire was dismissed for two bookable challenges. A controversial penalty soon followed: Christian Eriksen converting it for the only goal of the game.
Reece James would be shown England’s second red card of the night after full-time, but Maguire’s sending off proved more costly to Gareth Southgate’s side.
Though his manager had no complaints with either of his bookings, he used his post-match interview with Sky Sports to make his support for the Manchester United captain explicitly clear.
On punditry duty for Sky, Jamie Redknapp echoed Southgate’s sentiments, reminding people that off-field issues can influence some players’ performance levels.
“He’s got a lot on his mind, there’s no doubt at all,” Redknapp began. “Some players can handle it. Some players can play with things going on in their social life and it doesn’t bother them. That [the football pitch] is then their sanctuary. But others can’t. They go on their and they carry it onto the pitch.
“We don’t know what’s going on in people’s minds. We’re all very quick to judge. There’ll be people ripping him apart on social media… but you don’t know how somebody feels when they go on the field.
“They’re two errors that might look really simple, but he’s making a lot of individual mistakes right now. He’s got to pick himself up… I’ve got no doubt because of the man that he is that he’ll come back and he’ll come through this.”
Jamie Redknapp on Harry Maguire: "You don't know how somebody feels when they go on the field — he's got to pick himself back up and show something. Because of the man he is, he will come back and he will come through this." #mulive [@footballdaily] https://t.co/1b0jBmasQq
— utdreport (@utdreport) October 14, 2020
Maguire is anticipated to start for United on their return to Premier League action at the weekend despite a lot of calls for the manager to give him some time off.
That, as Gary Lineker says, is never the answer.
Oh rubbish. He’ll be fine. Just going through a tough spell that every player experiences. You don’t get out of these periods by going on holiday. You play your way through them. Read so much of this from people who have never been there.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) October 15, 2020
