Rio Ferdinand gives advice to Manchester United skipper Harry Maguire after latest England gaffe. After making yet another prominent error for England in their 3-3 tie with Germany, Rio Ferdinand urged Harry Maguire to be “mentally tough” to handle his current circumstances for both club and country.
The captain of Manchester United hasn’t been in Erik ten Hag’s starting lineup this year, but Three Lions manager Gareth Southgate still believes in him because he chose the center-back against both Italy and Germany.
On Monday, however, Maguire stole the show once more by handing Germany the game’s first goal following a disastrous few seconds at the start of the second half.
The 29-year-old passed the ball straight to Jamal Musiala on the edge of his own box and then hacked down the Bayern Munich youngster in the area, with the referee awarding a spot-kick after consulting VAR.
Maguire also lost possession high up the pitch before Germany’s second goal, though there was little anyone could do about Kai Havertz’s brilliant finish.
Rio Ferdinand gives advice to Manchester United skipper Harry Maguire after latest England gaffe. With the likes of Fikayo Tomori not making the matchday squad, and Marc Guehi not even called up for the latest round of internationals, Maguire’s place in the side continues to be questioned – particularly after another high-profile error.
Ferdinand is incredibly sympathetic to the United captain’s predicament and believes that Maguire will need to exercise all of his mental toughness in order to advance to the World Cup in November because the United captain isn’t getting the regular run of games for his club to play himself back into form.
Ferdinand tweeted, “I feel for Harry, every mistake is being punished and scrutinized,” after Maguire had given up the penalty. ‘ However, that comes with the territory.
He must have a strong mental attitude to get through this. At this level, playing without any games always leaves you vulnerable.
Maguire was not the only player to make an expensive error against Germany, with Nick Pope – in for the injured Jordan Pickford – spilling a tame, long-range shot into the path of Havertz for the visitors’ late leveller.
‘It is an error and of course he’s going to be down but the team has to be together and we have done that all week,’ said Southgate when asked about his goalkeeper’s mistake.
‘Tonight, in the end, a couple of errors have cost us the goals but I’ll focus on the fact they played with tremendous spirit and showed a belief that we haven’t shown in the last few games. I thought the crowd saw that and rose to that.’
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