Jamie Carragher hits back at England boss Gareth Southgate over Harry Maguire ‘joke’ rant

Jamie Carragher has fired back at Gareth Southgate after the England manager blasted the nation’s pundits for encouraging the ongoing circus surrounding Harry Maguire. The 30-year-old defender was the subject of further mockery in Tuesday’s 3-1 win against Scotland at Hampden Park.

Maguire replaced Marc Guehi at half-time and was met on the pitch by sarcastic cheers from the home support. He suffered the same belittlement at the Emirates Stadium before the international break.

The Manchester United outcast’s woes continued as he netted an own goal to help Scotland back into the game, but held his nerve to help England win the grudge friendly.

After full-time, Southgate unleashed a rant about Maguire’s treatment, aiming fire at the English media for helping create a narrative around the £80million star.

“From a Scotland fans’ point of view, I get it. I have absolutely no complaints with what they did. But it’s a consequence of ridiculous treatment of him for a long period of time,” Southgate explained.

“It’s a joke. Not by the Scottish fans but by our own commentators, pundits or whatever it is. They’ve created something that’s beyond anything I have ever seen.

“I think our fans recognised, ‘OK, there might be a bit of heat from our own supporters, but we’re not going to have others getting into him’.”

But in his latest column in the Telegraph, Carragher has hit back at Southgate, claiming he and his fellow pundits had done nothing of the sort.

Carragher wrote: “I love that Southgate has so staunchly defended Maguire. Where we differ is in the singling out of pundits for leading the criticism. What pundits?

“Maguire has received sympathy and empathy from my peers, but you cannot sign for United for £80 million – a record for a centre-back until last summer – and not anticipate scrutiny when performances fall below the club’s level.

“That comes with the territory of playing for one of the world’s greatest clubs, where modern standards are judged against some predecessors who were among the best defenders of all time.”

Maguire hasn’t started any of United’s four games this season, recording his first minutes as an emergency substitute in the 3-1 defeat against Arsenal last time out.

His Red Devils career has plunged into mediocrity, worsened by Erik ten Hag stripping him of the captaincy and handing the armband to Bruno Fernandes this summer.

And Maguire, who has earned 59 England caps and been a crucial fixture in Southgate’s reign, will understand his international career is in jeopardy.

If the United No 5 continues to watch from the bench, Southgate will likely be forced to make the difficult decision to take him out of the spotlight, potentially ending his Euro 2024 hopes.

Follow Daily Express on Threads for all the latest news