Manchester United fans have dropped their clear-cut verdict on Harry Maguire after the England defender’s performance against Premier League side Brighton on Saturday.
Harry Maguire lost the Manchester United captaincy under Erik ten Hag in 2023 and was linked with a move away from Old Trafford last summer.
However, the 31-year-old United centre-back remained at the Red Devils and Maguire underwent a resurgence in form last season.
Erik ten Hag was forced to turn to Maguire for large parts of the 2023-24 Premier League campaign after his first-team squad was plagued with injuries.
Maguire managed 22 Premier League appearances for United last season, with the former Red Devils captain starting 18 league matches.
The United defender now faces increasing competition for a place in the Red Devils’ starting XI after the signings of Leny Yoro and Matthijs de Ligt this summer.
Man Utd star Maguire vs Brighton
Erik ten Hag lost Leny Yoro, who the Red Devils signed from Ligue 1 side Lille in the summer, to injury during Manchester United’s pre-season tour.
Matthijs de Ligt played under Erik ten Hag at Ajax and the Dutchman arrived at Old Trafford alongside Noussair Mazraoui from Bayern Munich.
Despite De Ligt signing for United, Harry Maguire started alongside Lisandro Martinez for the Premier League opener against Fulham at Old Trafford last week.
Maguire impressed with his performance against Fulham in the 1-0 win and retained his place in the starting XI for the away trip to Brighton on Saturday.
The Three Lions star disappointed in the first half with his performance at the Amex and was partly at fault for Brighton’s opener in the Premier League clash.
Pedro Joao and Kaoru Mitoma were both unmarked and allowed to send crosses into the box, with former United striker Danny Welbeck picked out in the box.
Welbeck managed to turn the ball past a helpless Andre Onana and put Brighton into a 1-0 lead against United before half-time.
Maguire improved with a steady second-half performance before he was withdrawn in the 79th minute and replaced with former Bayern star De Ligt.
Man Utd fans react to Maguire vs Brighton
United fans were largely unimpressed with Maguire’s overall performance against Brighton and had their say on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
Red Devils supporters slammed the ‘criminal’ decision to start Maguire ahead of United summer signing De Ligt, who had to start on the bench against Brighton.
De Ligt made a brief cameo appearance against Fulham after he came off the bench late in the second half and replaced former Bayern Munich teammate Mazraoui.
“People were telling me that Harry Maguire had to start due to his performance last week. Not starting Matthijs de Ligt is CRIMINAL,” one fan said.
Another added: “Maguire getting benched next [match] for De Ligt, our season starts then.”
Someone else commented: “I was getting called negative for saying De Ligt should start over Maguire, BTW.”
A fourth tweeted: “I think it’s common knowledge that De Ligt deserves to start over Maguire.”
While a fifth asked: “Why’s Maguire still starting over De Ligt?”
“Maguire hasn’t been bad but he can’t be our starter. De Ligt has to start,” another argued.
Somebody else wrote: “Knew it was a matter of time before Maguire would cost us, the sooner De Ligt starts [matches] the better; praying he does vs Liverpool next week.”
And an eighth X user posted: “Why did we have to wait for Maguire to make a mistake to start De Ligt?”
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