The English star seized the opportunity given by coach Erik Ten Hag in the win over Crystal Palace.
Not unexpectedly, Manchester United experienced a series of major changes in personnel during the summer transfer window, in both incoming and outgoing directions. However, there were also many unexpected developments happening at Old Trafford, typically Harry Maguire decided to stick with Man Utd until the end instead of moving to West Ham to have the opportunity to play regularly.
In fact, Man Utd is ready to say goodbye to Maguire , they even target a series of quality options such as Benjamin Pavard or Jean-Clair Todibo to strengthen the central defender position. Therefore, they quickly accepted a 30 million pound offer from West Ham, but in the end the deal collapsed because Maguire decided to stay at Old Trafford and compete for a position.
“Man Utd is happy for me to stay and I am satisfied to continue fighting for my position. I want to do that and every time I train or compete, I will give my all. At the club, I want “The first four weeks were difficult because there was only one match a week and the coach didn’t pick me. However, we have a lot of matches coming up and I’m sure I will play many.” , Maguire discussed during the national team gathering in mid-September.
Obviously, most opinions believe that Maguire made a mistake when deciding to seek the opportunity to play under the Man Utd shirt. Because not only does he have to compete with Lisandro Martinez, Raphael Varane and Victor Lindelof, Maguire’s opportunity to play is also threatened by Jonny Evans, who arrived at Old Trafford on a free transfer in the summer. But after all, it seems that the former Leicester star made a decision that was not really wrong.
Maguire just got his first chance to start this season, and he delivered a classy performance against Crystal Palace . Data from Sofascore shows that Maguire had a total of 108/116 passes to the correct address, achieving an accuracy rate of up to 93% – including 6/7 accurate passes over the line. At the same time, he also impressed with 3/3 successful aerial combat situations, 2 clearances and 2 accurate tackle situations.
Notably, Maguire was rated 7.6 by Sofascore in this match, higher than Raphael Varane (7) and only lower than Diogo Dalot (8.3) and Casemiro (8.9). It’s easy to confirm that Maguire really took advantage of the rare opportunity from Ten Hag to reaffirm his value, so it wouldn’t be too surprising if he continued to play in the upcoming matches.
It is important to know that Varane has just returned from injury, while Martinez has joined Man Utd’s “sick soldiers” list and Lindelof has recently shown signs of decline in performance. Now, Maguire’s opportunities to play have actually increased significantly, true to the original goal he set when deciding to stay at Old Trafford.
