Sky Sports pundit Alan Smith awarded Manchester United defender Harry Maguire with the Man of the Match award during the 2-1 win over Sheffield United.
Erik ten Hag chose to continue with Harry Maguire after his superb performance for Manchester United against Brentford and the Dutchman’s faith was emphatically repaid by the 30-year-old.
The former Leicester City defender has received a massive amount of criticism at the start of the season for choosing to stay and fight for his place at Old Trafford.
However, with injuries to Ten Hag’s first-choice centre-back pairing, the Englishman has come in and been superb for the Red Devils and looks the part for United.
Pundit on Maguire
Speaking during the closing stages of United’s crucial win in Yorkshire, the former Arsenal striker Alan Smith was full of praise for the Englishman who has been through a lot recently.
“I think Harry Maguire has hardly missed anything that has come his way tonight,” an effusive Smith said on Sky Sports. “His long forward passes have been excellent and coming back to Sheffield, his former club, I think he’s been fantastic at the heart of the United defence.”
It’s hard to disagree with Smith, the United defender has certainly looked back to his best and it would be criminal if the Englishman didn’t start in the Manchester derby next weekend.
Maguire’s performance
The English defender, alongside Jonny Evans, was once again imperious as the Yorkshire outfit huffed and puffed to try and create opportunities but were limited to speculative shots from outside of the penalty box.
United have now won 94% of the games that Maguire has started in all competitions since October of 2022, despite some of these games being in the Europa League, it’s an impressive statistic.
Maguire completed 82% of his passes, won 71% of his aerial duels and made three blocks, he really was the difference maker at Bramall Lane, his former stomping ground.
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