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da leao： This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
Manchester United legend Roy Keane has criticised Harry Maguire’s ability to defend, and has said that there are still a few question marks surrounding the England international despite his undoubted quality on the ball.
Maguire moved to Old Trafford this summer in a deal worth £85m, but has kept just one clean sheet in four Premier League games as United suffered a defeat to Crystal Palace and also drew with Wolves and Southampton.
Keane was speaking on ITV as England thrashed Bulgaria by four goals to nil, and certainly didn’t hold back on his appraisal of the former Leicester man’s defensive qualities.
What did he say?
Keane told ITV (via The Mirror): “We’re talking about how good he is on the ball but defensively I still have one or two question marks over him. I worry about his pace on the turn.
“I remember the first goal against Crystal Palace and he wasn’t doing his best covering his other centre-half. Listen, he’s 26 years of age now. You’re worried if you’re pointing these things out to him.”
Harsh from Keane
What Keane hasn’t taken into account is the fact that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer doesn’t really have a reliable, natural defensive midfielder to screen the back four and protect Maguire and co.
In terms of Jordan Ayew’s goal at Old Trafford – the one in which Keane makes reference to – the four-man backline was far too high up the pitch when Vicente Guaita launched the ball long, which may be a result of a Fabinho-type player not being present in Solskjaer’s side.
You can argue that if United did have a player of that ilk in their side, they would be more comfortable with starting deeper as a back-four, rather than put themselves at risk by trying to win everything on the halfway line.
Keane’s comments on Maguire are harsh in that respect, and you can very easily argue that Maguire wouldn’t need to have his lack of pace exposed if a few more things were in order at United, such as a recognised defensive midfielder.
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