Harry Maguire
A Profile and His Importance to Manchester United
Manchester United has been a club known to have the most dominant centre-back pairings in the league throughout the tenure of legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson, with the likes of Steve Bruce with Gary Pallister in the ’90s and Rio Ferdinand with Nemanja Vidic in the 2000s. However, towards the end of Sir Alex Ferguson’s tenure, the colossal pairing of Ferdinand and Vidic had run its course, with the defenders heading towards retirement. Manchester United has tried several centre-back pairings since then hoping to emulate the success of the past, with the likes of Marcos Rojo, Eric Bailly, and Lindelof all coming into the club, with only limited success.
In the 18/19 season, Manchester United conceded 50+ goals in the league for the first time since the 78/79 season, reinforcing their desperate need for a commanding centre-half. Harry Maguire was coming off of a strong year with Leicester City in the league, leading them to a strong 9th place finish. Manchester United decided to pull the trigger and sign the English centre-half for a whopping fee of 80 million pounds, making him the most expensive defender in the world. Many considered the fee of 80 million to be excessive, however, for Manchester United, this signing was a necessity.
His Strengths
Maguire stands tall at 6’3 and has a very strong physique, something Manchester United has lacked in defence since the days of Ferdinand and Vidic. Although he isn’t blessed with a lot of speed, he makes up for it with his brilliant positioning and his ability to outmuscle the opponent when in a foot race. Maguire also possesses incredible aerial prowess, with him dominating the opposition time after time when a ball is put into Manchester United’s box. While these attributes are expected from a centre-back, an attribute of Maguire that isn’t appreciated as much as it should be is his ability to play out from the back.
Historically, centre-halves have always been known to have a no-nonsense playstyle attributed to them, as the name suggests, clearing the ball at every possible opportunity. However, as the sport has progressed, bigger clubs have started to rely heavily on their centre-halves to be the building blocks of their attacks and help in progressing the ball. One of Maguire’s biggest strengths is his ability with the ball at his feet.
The easiest way to highlight Maguire’s importance to the Manchester United side is with the help of some statistics. Manchester United’s defensive record improved drastically in the 19/20 season, after the acquisition of Maguire. The number of goals conceded fell from 54 to 36, with Manchester United boasting the third-best defensive record in the league. A trait of Maguire that I’ve highlighted earlier is his ability with the ball at his feet, Maguire in the 19/20 season averaged the highest progressive carrying distance with the ball (according to fbref.com) ahead of the likes of Jack Grealish and Kevin De Bruyne. Maguire also had the most interceptions in the league, with 55 interceptions, 5 ahead of Declan Rice in 2nd position. Perhaps, the most interesting statistic about Maguire is his incredible reliability. Harry Maguire played every single minute of Manchester United’s 19/20 campaign, becoming the first player to do so for the club since 1995, highlighting his fitness. Maguire’s addition to Manchester United’s defence catapulted them from 6th in 18/19, to a 3rd placed finish in the 19/20 season, with the Englishman also being named as the captain of the side early into his career at the club, highlighting the leadership qualities that he possesses.
While Maguire didn’t have the best of starts to the 20/21 season at Manchester United, as the season progressed, he grew into his role as the leader of the club. His performances were consistent as United marched to a 2nd place finish in the league after a dreadful start. Unfortunately, Maguire’s season was ended prematurely due to a ligament injury in the 34th game of the season. Although United’s fate in the league was sealed by then, the side produced terrible performances against Leicester and Liverpool without Maguire. Ahead of Manchester United’s Europa League final against Spanish side Villareal, Harry Maguire’s injury could potentially be the biggest deciding factor in regards to whether the English side can end the season on a high, with a trophy.
