Jamie Carragher has claimed that Harry Maguire is going through the ‘worst moment’ of his career, after Manchester United were knocked out of the Champions League by Atletico Madrid, as the Liverpool legend told CBS Sports (15/03/22 at 10:20 pm).
The Sky pundit compared Maguire to Liverpool’s ‘phenomenon’ at the back, Virgil van Dijk, and the fees both clubs paid for their services.
During the January transfer window of 2018, Van Dijk landed on Liverpool’s doorstep for a then-world-record fee for a defender of £75 million from Southampton (BBC Sport).
In 2019, that was topped by Man United, who paid Leicester City £80 million for Maguire (BBC Sport) – and it’s fair to say their careers have gone down very different paths.
As Maguire was subbed during Man United’s 1-0 second-leg Champions League defeat to Atletico, the club captain was cheered by his own supporters as he was replaced by Juan Mata at Old Trafford.
After the game, Carragher shared his thoughts on Maguire’s situation and made the Van Dijk comparison.
“He’s going through the worst moment in his career,” said Carragher. “I can picture it now when I was playing. It felt like, no matter what I did in the game, how I prepared for it or how well I played. The one thing I would get wrong is that the ball would end up in the back of my net.
“This is something Maguire is going through. He has to get out of it very quickly, otherwise, he won’t be at the club. The standards are so high – I actually think the crowd cheered when he went off, which isn’t nice for anyone.
“He gets criticised because he cost £80 million. Liverpool signed Virgil van Dijk for £75 million and Van Dijk is the best defender in the world. He is a phenomenon. Harry Maguire isn’t that.
“But he doesn’t set the price – he had a great summer with England at the Euros, but this season has been a disaster for him.”
Gareth Southgate is due to name his England squad and many will be questioning whether Maguire deserves to be selected.
In truth, he doesn’t, but given that he has done more good for his country than bad, the Sheffield-born player will probably be at St George’s Park next week.
That probably won’t help matters because he will just get more pelters and criticism aimed towards him.
Either way, whilst Liverpool fans sit back with a wry smile on their face knowing they have Van Dijk leading them at the back.
Those donning Man United colours will be questioning how on earth the club can be run in such a shambolic manner.
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