Very few players have endured a fall from grace quite like Harry Maguire (30). He became the world’s most expensive defender in 2019 after Manchester United parted with £80million to bring him to Old Trafford.
He arrived as a star of the England national side and quickly became a key United player. Not long after, he was made club captain.
Yet in the past year, his respectable reputation has diminished. He started the last campaign as one of Erik ten Hag’s first-choice central defenders alongside Lisandro Martinez, but disappointing displays against Brighton and Brentford saw him lose his spot quickly.
Maguire did remain club captain, but in name only, starting only six of United’s remaining Premier League matches that season. Not only did he fall in the club’s defensive pecking order, but in the moments he was bestowed game time, he produced several calamitous performances which only served to further damage his reputation.
It was no huge shock when Maguire was stripped of his Manchester United captaincy in the summer and a move to West Ham nearly followed. That deal fell through with Maguire never fully committed to the switch.
Instead, he opted to stay and fight for his place at Old Trafford, and that’s a decision that he's steadily starting to be rewarded for.
Maguire has started four of United’s last six matches, and Ten Hag’s side won all four while losing the two that he didn’t. In fact, United have now won 16 of the last 17 fixtures in which Maguire has started.
This, plus improving performances in the United defence, is contributing to a change in the narrative around him. Rather than revelling in his misfortune, there’s a growing appetite in the football community to see him rise and thrive once again.
Former Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil epitomised that sentiment best in mid-week. He posted on his social media on Tuesday: “Harry Maguire & Andre Onana deserve that - silencing the haters.”
This was after Maguire headed United ahead against Copenhagen on Tuesday night before under pressure teammate Andre Onana saved a penalty deep into stoppage time to preserve the 1-0 scoreline.
It was Maguire’s first United goal in 20 months, and it proved critical to keeping the Red Devils’ Champions League campaign alive. Old Trafford responded by passionately singing his name at full-time.
Ten Hag labelled the goal a “very good finish” before taking the opportunity to publicly praise the collective improvements he’s seen in United’s number five this season.
"He's playing much more proactively in possession, stepping in, passing vertically," explained Ten Hag after the victory.
"He's defending on the front foot, defending forward, very confident in the duels, I think he is dominating in the right way with his aggression against opponents. You see he also gets rewarded.”
The underlying numbers back up Ten Hag’s comments. In terms of Premier League aerial duels this season, Maguire’s success rate of 75 per cent (Opta) is a sharp increase from last season’s average of 53 per cent.
There’s been a similar boost to his success rate in grounds duels, increasing from 55 per cent last season to 65 per cent this season.
Playing with an increased confidence, we’ve also seen more composed performances with the ball. He struggled to adapt to the possession-based philosophy that Ten Hag was aiming to deploy last season, which is one of the reasons why his game time was so limited.
We’re seeing more confidence in his passing now, though. Maguire’s average in terms of progressive passes has shot up to 5.7 per 90 from last season's average of 3.1. There’s been a similar increase in his passing into the final third, going from 3.7 to 8.3.
Admittedly, the sample size in terms of minutes played this season is small. And the real acid test will come in this weekend’s Manchester derby when he’ll be tasked with trying to keep the likes of Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez quiet.
He’ll then have a fight to maintain consistency and a place in the starting XI, especially when key players return from injury.
For now, though, he’s taken several steps in the right direction and plenty around Old Trafford will be hoping to see it continue.
