Maguire IN! Man Utd captain can be huge success for Ten Hag

Robin Bairner

• 17 Mar 2023 13:03 GMT
• 12 min read

Harry Maguire stepped off the field following Manchester United’s 1-0 win over Real Betis on Thursday and made a big declaration.

“I have an important role on and off the field at this club and every day I try and make this club succeed whether I'm playing or not,” Maguire told BT Sport.

“Obviously I want to play and start more games, but I'm playing my part on and off the field.”

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It was a bold declaration given that the 30-year-old has played just 23 times for Man Utd this season, while his start against Betis was just the fourth he has made in either the Premier League or Europa League since September.

Maguire, meanwhile, is out of contract in 2025, meaning there is no rush for Man Utd to cash in on a player who retains the confidence of England manager Gareth Southgate. West Ham, Newcastle and PSG, have been linked with a potential summer transfer.

But is there a prospect of the most expensive centre-back in history regaining his place in the Manchester United team as he clearly wishes to do?

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Can Maguire play Ten Hag-ball?

According to data analytics experts SciSports, he should not be written off.

“Ten Hag likes his defenders to be aggressive in possession, so they need to be good distributors as well as comfortable carrying the ball up the pitch. Maguire was known for his ball progression at Leicester. In the season before he left for United, he was the best performing PL defender at ball carrying as well as creating overloads from defence. His underlying numbers at this since he’s been at United are still good,” SciSports’ Yash Shah told FootballTransfers.

“Right from his Leicester days Maguire was always known as a defender who was very good on the ball. In terms of his passing, he is certainly decent at actions such as build-up passes, passing into the final and deep completions.

“He doesn’t have quite at the same quality as Lisandro Martinez, but he is able to come close at least in term of frequency. Interestingly, his numbers are better than Raphael Varane’s have been for United.

Harry Maguire v Premier League defenders 2017/18: Passing

“Ten Hag also wants his defenders to defend with relative vigour and intensity. Even at Leicester, Maguire was someone who was not too aggressive and was better in the air than at combative actions such as interceptions and tackles. Maguire seems play a bit more on the back foot, but so does Varane, which is fine especially when playing alongside someone as aggressive as Martinez.

“One thing that he has been a bit suspect at is his defensive positioning. He was often criticised under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for being caught in the middle of nowhere during some of the goals they conceded. Man Utd seem to be more compact under Ten Hag and better organised in defensive transition, so this is something that he will be protected from.

“If he gets his confidence back, he certainly has the underlying numbers to play a substantial role under Ten Hag.”