Forget the ups and downs of the season. Forget Monday night. Harry Maguire has a chance over the next fortnight to define his first season at Manchester United as a big success.
Battling himself and the spotlight
At times it feels like there is an agenda against Harry Maguire. At times he plays into it.
Rival fans attempt to turn his every minor mistake or error into a meme, and attempt to paint the picture that he is a £80 million flop.
But this just comes with the territory of the price tag. The same attention is given to Paul Pogba, and in central defence, your errors are more exposed.
Maguire has not helped himself post-lockdown of course. He was brushed aside for a goal against Tottenham, and then nutmegged by Junior Stanislas in a goal for Bournemouth.
Yet he keeps going. He keeps showing for the ball and will not quit. Maguire summed up his ability to keep going and contribute positively with a 117th minute winning goal against Norwich in the FA Cup quarter-final, right out of the Steve Bruce textbook.
United need a leader right now
This is no moment for shrinking violets. As Sir Alex Ferguson famously dubbed it, this is ‘squeaky bum time’.
Manchester United have to win every single game, and cannot afford any poor performances at this stage.
Just three matches remain in the Premier League, and then the FA Cup semi-final.
It is a four game stretch which gives Maguire the chance to define his season as a success.
There is no glory in being the captain of a side who missed out on the top four and failed to win a trophy.
If Maguire’s United do qualify for the Champions League, his debut season will be seen as a success, having had very little expectation going into the campaign.
A win at Wembley this weekend will set Maguire and United up for one more match in this domestic campaign, the FA Cup final to be played on August 1.
What an opportunity that would be for Maguire to lift one of football’s most famous trophies in his first season as United captain.
This is a chance that Maguire could only dream about this time last year, as he wondered through July if his on-off move to United would go ahead.
Now he gets the chance to live it. To captain United and lead the side to FA Cup glory and back into the Champions League.
Take the first step tonight
United need Maguire to lead, to inspire, and to sharpen up his own game.
Forget the team’s calamitous defending for Southampton’s equalising goal on Monday, where nobody covered themselves in glory.
United have to move forward, and beat Crystal Palace tonight to turn the screw on Chelsea and Leicester in the race for Champions League places.
We will then just need two wins from two games to get the job done. Less if our rivals slip up.
A win will put United back on a high ahead of the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley against Chelsea.
As club captain, Maguire has a crucial role to play. Forget the highs, and the lows, of the season just gone to date.
United must focus fully on these upcoming matches and these alone, and fight for wins in all of them. That will put a positive spin on United’s season, whatever may happen in the FA Cup final.
For £80 million, people expect perfection, and that isn’t possible all the time, but for these four matches, we need near close to it. For better or worse, these next games will be how Maguire’s first season is remembered.
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