Captain Harry Maguire was arguably the main culprit for Manchester United’s failure to take three points against struggling Burnley at Turf Moor this evening.
United should and could have taken an early lead in the game when Raphael Varane powered home a header, but it was ruled out on VAR after Maguire was ruled offside and also appeared to have fouled a Burnley defender.
Paul Pogba did put the Red Devils ahead later in the first half but Maguire’s mistake at the other end early in the second led to Burnley’s equaliser and turned the tide completely.
He then made a lunging tackle which as last man could have been punished with a red card, but he escaped with a yellow.
Specialist tactical analysts on Twitter singled out the skipper for some harsh – but probably fair – criticism.
‘Maguire was the one given the runaround for the goal …’ The Tactical Times tweeted.
‘I feel like I know he’s a really good player but sometimes he does little things that make it difficult to justify the claim.’
Maguire was the one given the runaround for the goal too. I feel like I know he's a really good player but sometimes he does little things that make it difficult to justify the claim.
— The Tactical Times (@Tactical_Times) February 8, 2022
UtdArena agreed.
‘Maguire should never step out to the opposite side in the way Scott did. Scott can do that as a midfielder but a CB cannot just ignore that he’s a CB. Maguire firstly moved deeper, then was late to close down, then closed down incorrectly, then wasn’t fast enough. Really bad.
Maguire should never step out to the opposite side in the way Scott did. Scott can do that as a midfielder but a CB cannot just ignore that he’s a CB. Maguire firstly moved deeper, then was late to close down, then closed down incorrectly, then wasn’t fast enough.
Really bad.
— UtdArena (@UtdArena) February 8, 2022
‘That is schoolboy defending from Maguire,’ The Tactical Times added, speaking about the yellow card incident.
‘Starting position is wrong, allows his man to get around him, misjudges the ball, could have been sent off.
‘I would say if that happened 10 yards closer to goal Maguire probably is sent off. They have to consider the chance another defender has in coming across. Rodriguez had a lot of yards to cover. It’s really bad defending. The basics too.’
That is schoolboy defending from Maguire. Starting position is wrong, allows his man to get around him, misjudges the ball, could have been sent off.
— The Tactical Times (@Tactical_Times) February 8, 2022
With Victor Lindelof, Eric Bailly and Phil Jones waiting in the wings, manager Ralf Rangnick has an important decision to make about whether to keep Maguire in the team.
Today’s errors were unfortunately not the first this season and Lindelof, in particular, has worked well with Varane under Rangnick. The swede could be brought in for Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off against Southampton.