Man Utd captain Harry Maguire has admitted that he made “mistakes” in England’s 3-3 draw against Germany at Wembley on Monday night.
Maguire has been enduring a torrid time over the past year. He struggled for Man Utd last term as they finished sixth in the Premier League.
The defender has been hampered more than most by Erik ten Hag’s arrival as he has found himself on the bench in recent weeks. Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane have been preferred at centre-back.
Harry Maguire and the invisible line between loyalty and bloody-mindedness
He has not been playing much for Man Utd but he was still included in Gareth Southgate’s squad for this month’s games in the UEFA Nations League.
The Three Lions boss admitted after including Maguire that the player’s situation at Man Utd “is not ideal” ahead of this winter’s World Cup.
In spite of this, Maguire started both of England’s final two Nations League group games.
He has been criticised heavily over the past 24 hours as he made two mistakes that led to goals against Germany on Monday.
These goals left England 2-0 behind, but they battled back to lead 3-2 after scoring three goals in just eleven minutes.
The game finished 3-3 though as Nick Pope let slip the ball and this allowed Kai Havertz to equalise.
Luke Shaw defended Maguire after the draw, insisting that his United teammate is an “unbelievable player”:
“I will be honest, it is a tough period at the moment,” Shaw said.
“Of course Harry is an amazing player, an amazing character. He has taken a lot of stick, probably more than I have ever seen before in football but he never hides away, he is always there.
“You can have people that can hide away and not want to be in the spotlight but he keeps putting himself in the spotlight and it shows the strength and character he has got because, come on, everyone knows that he is an unbelievable player.
“At the moment the confidence might not be there because it might feel like the whole world is against him, it is tough for him but us as players, staff we are all behind him because he is a very important player and it shows Gareth’s trust that he has played in both games.
“Look at the Euros and what he has done, people need to understand he is a big part of the England team and they have to accept it.”
Maguire has spoken out himself as he apologised for the mistakes he made:
“Mistakes are part of the game, I apologise,” Maguire said on Instagram.
“Great fight back and spirit to get us back into the game by the lads.
“Take the positives and look forward to Qatar. The tough times will make us stronger.”
