Ex-Man Utd player explains why ‘arrogant’ defender will be ‘problem’ for Ten Hag this summer
Paul Parker thinks Harry Maguire will be a “problem” for Man Utd and Erik ten Hag this summer as he is “not ambitious enough to move on”.
Maguire has slipped down the pecking order this season as Ten Hag has preferred to use Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane at centre-back when all of his squad are available.
Ten Hag has even used Luke Shaw at centre-back at times this season as Maguire has often been left on the periphery.
The Englishman has been unable to impress when playing alongside Victor Lindelof in recent weeks and he may have to leave Man Utd this summer to play on a more consistent basis.
Parker thinks Maguire “makes Lindelof look bad” when they play together but it is “completely different” when the Sweden international is alongside Shaw.
“Victor Lindelof’s level isn’t dropping when he is playing alongside Harry Maguire but Maguire makes him look bad,” Parker told BonusCodeBets.
“Imagine a movie with one very good actor and one very bad actor. The actor that is actually quite good would immediately look bad because he has to carry the other actor on his back.
“That’s what Lindelof is doing with Maguire and it’s completely different with Luke Shaw. With him, Man United are having two good actors to stay in this analogy and they are complimenting each other.
“Luke Shaw is very good on the ball, which is what everyone wanted to say that Maguire was when he signed for Man United. But the ones that saw him for Hull knew that he was never good on the ball. All he was doing was dribbling around the box and making mistakes, which were classified as unlucky. It was a selling point.”
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Parker has also boldly argued that Maguire “can’t play for a club in the top ten” in the Premier League.
“Harry Maguire is not able to hold a line. He can’t do that. He wants to defend deep, which is why he ideally should move to a club that is playing with a deep line,” Parker added.
“Of course, he can’t play for a club in the top ten. He might be able to play for one of the teams below that if they are defending deep. He can’t play for a progressive team.
“But Maguire is going to be a problem in the summer window. I don’t think he wants to leave and I don’t think the clubs want to pay what Man United are valuing him.
“He enjoys being a Man United player and he is probably not ambitious enough to move on and keep his spot in the England squad. He might think it’s secured no matter what happens. He has this embedded confidence in himself, which in fact can be called arrogance to be perfectly honest.”