12 October 2023 , 10:55
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Harry Maguire raised eyebrows on Wednesday by claiming his recent win percentage for club and country is "ridiculously high".
Maguire, 30, has struggled for minutes at Manchester United since Erik ten Hag was appointed in May 2022 and was stripped of the captaincy during the summer. Yet England boss Gareth Southgate has stuck by the battling defender ahead of Euro 2024.
Maguire is determined to win back his place at Old Trafford and tried to silence his critics by referencing his win record. He said: "If you look back on my last 15-20 starts for club and country, I would be happy to sit here and say I’m really happy with my performances.
"My record under this manager (Ten Hag) speaks for itself. I haven’t started as many games as I would like but my win percentage when I’ve played is ridiculously high."
But is it? Mirror Football has taken a look at the stats and they reveal that Maguire is... spot on. He's started 18 games for club and country in 2023, boasting 16 wins, one draw and one defeat. The centre-back has been part of defences which have kept an impressive eight clean sheets and conceded just eight goals. That is a very good record by anyone's standards.
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Yet stats tell only one side of the story. Just six of those games were in the Premier League, as Maguire faced Bournemouth, Leeds, Everton, Nottingham Forest, Fulham and Brentford. His only start against a top European side was April's 3-0 defeat to Sevilla.
Ten Hag hasn't trusted Maguire to start against the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool in 2023. He made a brief two-minute cameo in February's Carabao Cup final victory against Newcastle and was left on the bench in June's FA Cup final defeat to Manchester City.
Maguire has the stats to back up his performances (Matt McNulty/Getty Images)Do you think Harry Maguire deserves more of a chance at Manchester United? Let us know in the comments below!
Perhaps it'll only be fair to judge Maguire when he plays consistently in the Premier League again. He added: " Of course there are times when I could do more and times when I could improve and help the team.
"I can only do what I’ve been doing when I’ve come into the team... bringing positive performances. But I’m just wanting to help the team, I’m wanting to help the team get out of this position we’re in at the moment."
United have made heavy weather of their start to the season, losing six games in all competitions - including home defeats to Brighton, Crystal Palace and Galatasaray. Maguire continued: "I want to fight for my place but, of course, game time is really important to me.
"It’s not my decision whether I start the next game or not. I’m unsure about that. In a couple of weeks I’ll go back and find out. It has been tough, I want to play games, I want to feel important to the club and to the rest of the team. At the moment I haven’t been playing anywhere near as much as I would like. That is the bottom line."