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Harry Maguire was injured again and Manchester United were stuck in a loop under Ruben Amorim, offering their own take on the definition of insanity. As Albert Einstein almost said, it is playing 3-4-2-1 with Bruno Fernandes deep and Casemiro exposed over and over again – but expecting different results.
It was the start of January and, at that point, Maguire simply wanted a return to fitness after two months on the sidelines, regular minutes, a bit of rhythm in his game after an in-and-out season. The notion of an England recall was fanciful. Not to mention the World Cup. Maguire was set to remain on 64 caps, the last of which he won against the Republic of Ireland in Dublin in September 2024.
Who writes Maguire’s scripts? It is a need-to-know question because there has been some drama in them over recent years, typically involving shuddering lows that would finish anybody apart from, it seems, this teak-tough defender. The 33-year-old knows how to dig deep and fight. He bounces back and there have been some sensational highs that go beyond him re-establishing himself in a team or a manager’s thoughts. The last-gasp headers for United against Lyon and Liverpool, anyone?
Maguire’s latest act threatens to top the lot. He is not only back for United under Michael Carrick, to whom the club turned after sacking Amorim on 5 January and the brief Darren Fletcher interlude, he is back for England as well, Thomas Tuchel calling him up for the Wembley friendlies against Uruguay on Friday and Japan on Tuesday.
Tuchel has talked about Maguire’s “super-strength in defending in the box and attacking in the box” and the England manager wants to see whether he can adapt to his defensive set-up.
Tuchel had to look for himself after Maguire’s return to form under Carrick. He was back to full fitness in time for the interim manager’s first game on 17 January, the derby win against Manchester City. Maguire started that day and has started in every subsequent match as United have won seven and drawn two out of 10 to surge to third in the Premier League.
Maguire wants to make it clear that he likes and rates Amorim. He says the Portuguese played him in “pretty much” every game for which he was fit. Maguire started 30 matches under Amorim, coming on as a substitute in a further nine. He was unused on the bench eight times. And yet Maguire does not run from what many see as the major reason for the Carrick‑led turnaround: the switch to a back four. The definition of sanity with this United squad? Try 4-2-3-1 with Fernandes as the No 10 and Kobbie Mainoo alongside Casemiro in midfield.
“The change of manager happened and that has helped with the form of the club and the formation we play,” Maguire says. “When you play a certain way, especially me in the middle of a back three, you do play a bit different to a four. It [going to a four] has had a part to play. It must have because the results before weren’t good enough.
“I don’t really have much bad to say about Ruben. I really like Ruben, he’s got great ideas. The ideas just didn’t work at Manchester United. I do believe he’ll go on and have an amazing career, and at his next club he’ll probably go and win many, many football matches. It just didn’t click or work and us, as players, have got to take a lot of responsibility for that as well. He has led the club in a direction and I do think he deserves a lot of credit for that, where he’s built a good, solid squad.”
Maguire wants to play in a back four because he wants to go toe‑to‑toe with the opposition striker, to engage him in close‑quarter combat where he can exert his physical dominance. As an aside, Mainoo has also thrived under Carrick to the extent that he too is back in the England squad. Like Maguire, his last cap came against Ireland in Dublin.
“Football is about opinions and, if Kobbie is going to have a long career, there’s going to be managers who fancy you and managers who don’t,” Maguire says. “Or you just don’t suit a system when you’re playing two in there [in midfield] and he wants Bruno back and more of a defensive one to play with Bruno. It just didn’t fit the eye of Ruben but Kobbie’s been fantastic since he’s come back in.
“I personally prefer playing in a back four. When you’re playing in a three and you’re that middle one, automatically people think you’re a little bit older, you can’t move as much and you get protected. And you do actually get protected. But I’ve always said I much prefer a four.
“I feel like I can play more aggressive, play more on the front foot. I am a defender who wants to defend forward, getting in duels. In the middle of a back three, it is more cautious, a sweeper-type role and not as much driving forward with the ball, which has been a big part of my game throughout my career. I feel like it has been a great transition. Credit to Michael and his staff for making it so smooth.”
Maguire is close to resolving his contractual situation; his deal is up at the end of the season and, the way he speaks, it sounds certain that he will stay on at United. “What the agreement is, I’m sure you’ll find out over the next few weeks,” he says. “I think it will, it should, get sorted pretty soon.”
It is no surprise to hear Maguire suggest Carrick ought to remain in position for next season. “We’ve got to finish strong and I think he should go right into the mix of the other candidates [for the permanent job] and let the process begin,” he says. “I’m sure it will do and I’m sure it’s going to be a thorough process.
“It’s going to be a big summer. We need bodies in, bodies to help the squad. We know that. We need improvement in the squad. It’s going to be a big recruitment in the management department and I’m sure that the hierarchy will get it right.”
Maguire’s focus is on Uruguay and standing out in Tuchel’s 24-man squad for the game. The manager will add 11 players for Japan and subtract a similar number as part of a two-pronged approach to this window. Maguire is in competition with John Stones and Fikayo Tomori for a starting place against Uruguay. Marc Guéhi, Ezri Konsa and Dan Burn are the centre-halves who will come into the squad for Japan.
Maguire can feel the World Cup dream burning and he would be happy to travel as a back-up player; to support and bring his experience to bear. He just wants to be there. “If I play one minute at the World Cup or every game, I will still do everything I can to make sure this country is successful,” he says.
“That’s where I am at in my career. It is not about me playing at the World Cup to try and say I am the best defender in the world. I want to be part of a group and I feel like I can still be a big part of a group – on the pitch but also off the pitch.”
Maguire has a story to tell about his England recall. Tuchel messaged him last Thursday at about 4pm to ask whether he could call him at 6pm-ish without telling him whether he was in or out of the squad. Maguire was about to fly to Bournemouth with United before their Friday night game there and the journey certainly felt longer than it might normally have done. Maguire knew it was now or never for him with England and there was elation when Tuchel gave him the news.
Did Maguire ever fear that his international career was finished? “There was a point,” he says. “Probably at the end of last season when I wasn’t picked in the summer camp. The three camps previously this season … it was stop‑start for me at the beginning, so no excuses there.” With Maguire it is never over.
