Manchester United defender Harry Maguire was booed by fans at Wembley when his name was read out on the team sheet during the warm-up ahead of England’s Nations League clash with Germany on Monday night. And he was then booed for a second time when the players came out for the start of the match. The centre-back has had a torrid time on the pitch over the last year and has been dropped by Red Devils boss Erik ten Hag in recent weeks.
Despite his United woes, Maguire continues to be a key player for England under Gareth Southgate and was named in the starting line-up for the Three Lions’ final match ahead of this winter’s World Cup. But fans in the capital had no hesitation making their views on the player clear ahead of kick-off.
Maguire had won 47 caps for his country ahead of the showdown with Germany and starred as Southgate’s team reached the World Cup semi-final in 2018 and the Euro 2020 final three years later. But his club form has since fallen off a cliff and he now appears to be losing the backing of the national fans.
On Friday night, the 29-year-old played the full 90 minutes at the San Siro in Milan as England took on Italy in their penultimate Nations League game of the year. But he was unable to prevent his team going down to a 1-0 defeat as Giacomo Raspadori scored the only goal of the game.
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England are currently going through a miserable run of form and hadn’t won any of their last five matches ahead of Monday’s encounter. Southgate, himself, found himself on the receiving end of booing after his team had been thrashed 4-0 by Hungary at Molineux in June, before he was jeered again by some fans in Italy on Friday.
And the former defender admits his job is now on the line. “I am not foolish,” he said in the wake of the defeat in Milan. “I know ultimately I will be judged on what happens at that World Cup. Contracts are irrelevant in football because managers can have three, four, five-year contracts and if results aren’t good enough then you accept that’s time to part ways. Why would I be any different? I’m not arrogant enough to think that having a contract should protect me in any way from results.”
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