Manchester United captain Harry Maguire has suffered the ignominy of being nominated for an award ‘celebrating’ poor performance.
Following on from FIFA’s ‘The Best’, where Mary Earps and Casemiro scooped prizes, Marca’s annual ‘The Worst’ award flips the format.
Focusing on players who have performed poorly relative to their salary, endured a terrible World Cup, or who have had a particularly bad or forgettable run of displays, the ‘award’ is Marca’s attempt at “a little mischief.”
Harry Maguire has certainly fallen down the pecking order at Man United this season, with Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez the preferred pairing in central defence.
Nevertheless, Erik ten Hag has kept the England international as his captain, and Maguire recently lifted the Carabao Cup trophy alongside Bruno Fernandes.
While his game time at Old Trafford has been limited, he did enjoy a good World Cup out in Qatar and was among the competition’s best defenders.
It is clear that Maguire does not quite fit in Ten Hag’s system, with his lack of pace and turning speed causing difficulties when United push their lines up.
He has generally been used only in situations where United expect an aerial bombardment, late in matches where the opposition are looking to pump balls into the box – the final against Newcastle United being one such example.
It certainly does not help that Maguire looks shot of confidence whenever he pulls on a United shirt, with his recent performance against West Ham leaving David de Gea far more busy than usual.
He may well leave the club in the summer, with reported interest for Moyes’ side and Ten Hag looking to increase his transfer budget.
Maguire himself is sure to want more game time as he looks to hang on to his international career as well.
Joachim Andersen, Kalidou Koulibaly, and Joe Gomez all join Maguire on the nominations list, making four Premier League centre backs.
Kalvin Phillips, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and Lucas Moura are the other candidates from England’s top division.
Nicolo Zaniolo, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Eden Hazard, Kasper Dolberg, and Dele Ali complete the list.
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