Erik ten Hag owes Harry Maguire an apology on the back of his impressive recent performances for Manchester United, according to former Tottenham boss Tim Sherwood. Maguire has enjoyed a new lease of life for the Red Devils over the last few weeks, helping them to beat Brentford, Sheffield United and Copenhagen in their last three matches.
Maguire even popped up with the winning goal against Copenhagen in midweek to underline his value to United just a couple of months after his proposed move to West Ham fell through. Sherwood has since urged Ten Hag to apologise to Maguire for ‘trying to edge him out’ in the summer, only to end up relying on the England ace to deliver the goods in defence.
“I’ve got a lot of time for Harry Maguire,” said Sherwood on the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast by William Hill. “He was getting shoved out the door and you could see that the manager was trying to edge him out but he didn’t want to leave.
“He probably looked around the dressing room, saw how flaky the other players in his position were and decided that he’d eventually get some minutes. I think he’ll play a lot more football now because he’s made the manager realise it’s not all about superstars. Sometimes you need character, heart and personality to play at Old Trafford, and he has all of those.
“He might not be the greatest, but he’s certainly not the worst. As a manager, when you have a player like Maguire who wants to give everything for the cause and leave nothing on the pitch, you can deal with that. The problem is when people go hiding and they don’t want to leave the treatment room because they want to be at 110 per cent for every game they play.
“That is never going to happen. I think he will play a lot more now, and I think Erik ten Hag owes him an apology. The fans appreciate and recognise that he wants to be back in action for United.”
Sherwood went on to insist that Maguire will win over his doubters at United by continuing to demonstrate that he wants to play for the badge. He is likely to be in action for the Red Devils once again when they face Manchester City this weekend, with Ten Hag’s side looking to extend their winning run to four matches in all competitions.
“You can always turn things around by showing heart and playing for the badge, and that is exactly what he has shown,” added Sherwood. “All of a sudden, he can turn the fans around and if you do turn them around they’ll never forget that. You still get paid the same money whether you play or you don’t.
“He could easily have downed tools and refused to play for Erik ten Hag but he didn’t want to. Being a footballer is a short career with a long time retired and he wants to get the most out of it and play for the biggest club in the world. He’s turned it around and I have got so much time for him.”
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