Reaction and latest updates following the sacking of Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag

Simon Stone
BBC Sport Chief Football News Reporter at Football Daily

If we just look at Harry Maguire and this brings us back to the recruitment aspect and how much Erik ten Hag said in that, basically, first of all he decided that Maguire couldn’t play left centre-back. back and that he had to play as a right center back because he didn’t open his body fast enough and he didn’t have as much mobility as he wanted. He then decided to make Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martínez his two main central defenders and this summer he decided to make Matthijs de Ligt his main man.

Now they are his decisions, he is the manager of the football club, he will stand or fail depending on the decisions he makes. I think he was basically saying to Maguire: “Look, you’re not my first-choice centre-half, you’re an England player, if you want to leave, leave.” Maguire decided that he was not going to go, that he would stay.

The subsidiary point of this is that no one who has played in central defense, although Martínez looked very good in his first season until he was injured, but no one who has played in central defense has stayed fit enough or played as well. good enough to make you think. He’s better than Harry Maguire.

So all this money has been spent and it hasn’t improved Manchester United.

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