Stevie Nicol was critical of Tottenham Hotspur transfer target Harry Maguire and his actions towards Martin Odegaard during Manchester United’s 2-0 pre-season friendly win over Arsenal in New York on Sunday.
The 30-year-old picked up a yellow card for his barge into the Arsenal captain, with Nicol stating that Harry Maguire’s challenge was ‘horrible’, as he told ESPN.
He was booked for his moment of madness, but that wasn’t what rilled up Martin Odegaard during the game, he was left unimpressed by Lisandro Martinez’s tackle on Bukayo Saka earlier on in the game – Mikel Arteta shared his own thoughts.
Nonetheless, whilst Odegaard still leads his team out, the same can’t be said for Maguire, who was recently stripped of the armband and it was handed over to Bruno Fernandes.
The new Manchester United captain pulled no punches when discussing how the England defender reacted to this all, with many now questioning his future at Old Trafford.
Tottenham are lurking in the background in a possible deal that could see him join Harry Kane, and after receiving a huge sum for Declan Rice, West Ham are also keen, as Nicol shared his thoughts on the in-demand player.
“It’s just horrible,” said Nicol. “It’s not even that he is trying to kick him. He doesn’t know where the ball is. He has just barged into him. It looked like a pub challenge. Sunday league challenge.
“It’s happened because he is Harry Maguire. When you see us talking about composure. People bring it up when you are in front of the goal.
“But that is a complete and utter lack of composure defensively. He obviously doesn’t know where the ball is and he actually doesn’t care.
“If you actually are thinking about it, then you wouldn’t do that. He has just barged into the back of Odegaard. Nowhere near the ball. His mind isn’t clear.”
Who will finish higher – Man United, Arsenal or Tottenham – next season
It was Arteta’s side who came out on top last season, and in truth, given how well they did, they should have won the Premier League title.
Man United will feel they had a better campaign because they also secured Champions League football, but also won a trophy, whilst Spurs had a season to forget.
There is a lot of pressure on Arsenal and Man United now because they will be expected to kick on, whereas, if Ange Postecoglou can keep Harry Kane on board, then anything can happen with them, including making a return to the Champions League.
It wouldn’t be a surprise, because of the pressure, if one of Arsenal or Man United slip up next term.
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