2022 World Cup Will Be Most Important Tournament Of Harry Maguire’s Career

STADIO GIUSEPPE MEAZZA, MILANO, ITALY – 2022/09/23: Harry Maguire of England looks on during the … [+] Uefa Nations League Group 3 football match between Italy and England. Italy wins 1-0 over England. (Photo by Marco Canoniero/LightRocket via Getty Images)

LightRocket via Getty Images

Harry Maguire is still Manchester United captain, but his standing at Old Trafford has never been lower. The 29-year-old has been dropped to the bench by new manager Erik ten Hag with Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane preferred as United’s first-choice centre back pairing this season. Gareth Southgate, however, is still counting on Maguire.

Southgate was forced to justify his selection of a player who has started just two Premier PINC League matches this season for England’s UEFA EFA Nations League fixtures against Italy and Germany. Not only was Maguire included in the squad, he played the full 90 minutes of a 1-0 defeat to Italy at San Siro.

Maguire has long played his best soccer for England. The defender was an important member of the team that reached the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup and the final of Euro 2020. Southgate clearly feels loyalty to Maguire because of what he has delivered for his national team over the last few years.

STADIO GIUSEPPE MEAZZA, MILANO, ITALY – 2022/09/23: Fikayo Tomori of England during warm up before … [+] the Uefa Nations League Group 3 football match between Italy and England. Italy wins 1-0 over England. (Photo by Marco Canoniero/LightRocket via Getty Images)

LightRocket via Getty Images

However, England now have better options than Maguire. Fikayo Tomori, for instance, is a Serie A title winner with AC Milan and is playing first team soccer for one of Italy’s biggest clubs in the Champions League. Yet he hasn’t been given an opportunity to prove himself for the national team under Southgate.

The limitations of Maguire’s game are clear for all to see. The 29-year-old is comfortable enough when deployed as part of a low defensive line, but his lack of recovery pace means he struggles in a proactive team. This is why ten Hag has dropped Maguire to the Manchester United bench in the early part of this season.

“He is an important player for us and it’s important to back our best players,” Southgate replied when asked to justify the selection of Maguire for England’s final UEFA Nations League fixtures against Italy and Germany. “Whatever reputation I have, I’m putting it on there. He is our most dominant aerial centre-back.

BURTON-UPON-TRENT, ENGLAND – JUNE 09: Harry Maguire of England speaks with Gareth Southgate, Head … [+] Coach of England during an England Training Session at St Georges Park on June 09, 2022 in Burton-upon-Trent, England. (Photo by Eddie Keogh – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)

The FA via Getty Images

“Him and John [Stones] are incredible with the ball – the amount of pressure they have taken for the team in tournaments because we don’t always have that midfield pivot player who can progress the game. It means there is a huge amount more pressure on our centre-backs to use the ball well and those two are as good as any in world football at doing that.”

This winter’s World Cup could be a watershed in Maguire’s career for both club and country. While the 29-year-old’s Manchester United career might never recover, a successful tournament for England could lift his stock to a point where there is interest from elsewhere in the central defender. He could prove his doubters wrong.

Alternatively, a poor World Cup would compound Maguire’s problems. A disappointing tournament would surely spell the end for Southgate as England manager which would see Maguire lose a key ally at the top of the game. Things have to go well for Maguire in Qatar otherwise his career might never recover.