Harry Maguire may be handed a lifeline by Ruben Amorim (Image: Getty)
Harry Maguire has been urged to grasp a second chance under at by Wes Brown. Despite developing into somewhat of a stalwart at the back under , albeit facing criticism for his performances, the past two seasons have seen Maguire demoted to a peripheral role by the recently dismissed .
Yet, having refused to be sold by the club in 2023 and this January – intending to regain a starting XI berth – Amorim now arrives from Sporting CP, giving the lacklustre United cohort and Maguire a clean slate.
Brown, who called Old Trafford home between 1996 and 2011, believes £70million-man Maguire must take advantage of this fresh start and a new manager to impose himself upon. “It’s been a horrible situation for Harry Maguire, but not playing as much is never where a player wants to be at this stage of their career,” he told .
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“He’s been pushed to the side a little bit, but this is a great opportunity for him to show what he can do. He could play as the ball-playing centre-back, and you hope he gets his chance to impress. He’s got a lot of stick for no reason, but he’s done his job when needed. He now needs to impress the new manager.”
Despite Maguire’s inability to save Ten Hag’s job, he was one of the more vocal players during United’s downward spiral under the Dutchman.
Such leadership from a man who was stripped of the Red Devils’ captaincy by the departed manager may appeal to Amorim. He will need centre-halves who are good with their feet to play in his three-at-the-back system – something Maguire is familiar with, having played in such a role for England.
Amorim could get the best out of Maguire (Image: Getty)
“Obviously, it’s not good enough,” Maguire admitted last month, as the pressure began to ramp up on Ten Hag for poor results. “As a footballer it’s easy to look around and blame other people and blame your teammate or the staff or tactics. You’ve got to look at yourself.
“We’re the ones that go on the pitch. We’re the ones that have to defend. You’ve got to take responsibility. And every one of us has to do better in these moments. When we’re under pressure, I feel as a team over the last year or so, we’ve ended up conceding, and that can’t happen.
“We’ve got to be able to withstand that pressure. Have better principles within ourselves. We’ve got to up the tempo when we’re defending our box a lot better.”