Harry Maguire appreciates the ‘faith and trust’ shown in him by Gareth Southgate

By Sports Desk March 21, 2024

Harry Maguire has praised Gareth Southgate for showing “faith and trust” in him during a tough period in his career and has backed the England boss to stay on after targeting Euro 2024 success.

Southgate is preparing to lead England into a fourth major tournament at the helm and has come the closest to leading the nation to glory for the first time since 1966 – reaching a World Cup semi-final, the final of Euro 2020 and the World Cup quarter-finals in Qatar in 2022.

During that time, Southgate has stuck rigidly to supporting Maguire even when the Manchester United defender was out of the team at Old Trafford, had been stripped of the captaincy and was being jeered by England fans.

Maguire has now largely come through the other side of such criticism and is on course to keep his place at the heart of Southgate’s defence heading to Germany this summer.

“I think that the faith and the trust that he has shown me throughout my time for England has been brilliant,” Maguire said of the England boss.

“I think I’ve been in every single squad I’ve been available for, I’ve played every competitive game that I’ve been available for.

“So it gives me great confidence and belief that I can turn things around. It gave me the belief in myself and he has been a huge part of that and I can only thank him for the support.

“There’s loads of people out there now who probably don’t think I should be in the squad. There’s millions of people that think I should be. That’s football and that’s why it’s such a great game because everyone has such a different opinion.”

While performances in major tournaments have improved since Southgate was appointed on a full-time basis in 2016, England have still failed to win a men’s final since their sole World Cup success 58 years ago.

Asked if anything other than winning the Euros would be deemed as a failure this time around, Maguire replied: “I feel as a group we’re ready to win.

“If you asked every single player in the squad they’d say the expectation is to win the tournament. However, we do understand that it’s tournament football and if we are going to win the Euros, you are probably going to have to win a penalty shoot-out, so you are going to have to be prepared on that aspect.

Southgate’s current contract expires at the end of the year and England’s displays in Germany could determine whether he extends his stay or leaves the post.

Such has been his impressive reign, the former Middlesbrough boss has been linked with the Manchester United manager’s position in recent days.

For the time being, however, Maguire is not looking beyond the European Championships and the hope Southgate remains in place in the aftermath.

“Yes, definitely,” he replied when asked if he wanted to see Southgate remain in the post.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen after the Euros, I don’t know if he knows what’s going to happen. But I feel like what he’s done from when he first took over this job to where we are at now, we’ve taken huge strides and he’s a massive part of that.”

Maguire headed for international duty having come off the bench in United’s extra-time win over Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-final.

Someone else who starred in the tie and has been rewarded for his fine form with a maiden senior call-up is Kobbie Mainoo – and Maguire is a big fan of the teenage midfielder.

“He can handle the ball brilliantly, he’s really strong, powerful, and you can see the progression to play that role, especially for Manchester United,” he added.

“I didn’t have any concerns whatsoever. It’s incredible he’s (only) 18, he’s so mature. He’s a bit like Jude (Bellingham) was when he was young boy. He’s got a mature head on his shoulders.”

Meanwhile, a meme of Maguire talking to his partner at the 2018 World Cup which has been often used since the finals in Russia was posted on social media by the official X – formerly known as Twitter – account of the Conservative Party on Tuesday.

Posting about the potential independent football regulator, the @Conservatives account put the picture of Maguire with a mock quote relating to the collapsed plans for a European Super League.

Maguire, though, insists he was not consulted over the use of the image: “That’s been everywhere that (picture),” he said.

“No, they have had no permission. I didn’t even know about the advert to be honest.”

Related items

  • Paris Saint-Germain 3-3 Le Havre: Ramos rescues point but title confirmation must wait Paris Saint-Germain 3-3 Le Havre: Ramos rescues point but title confirmation must wait

    Paris Saint-Germain were held to a 3-3 draw at home to relegation-battling Le Havre on Saturday and will need to wait before confirming their 12th Ligue 1 title.

    PSG would have clinched the title with three games to spare with a victory. They have a 12-point gap over second-placed Monaco, who are at Lyon on Sunday, and a goal difference of 47 to Monaco's 18.

    The away side opened the scoring in the 19th minute through Christopher Operi and PSG levelled 10 minutes later with Bradley Barcola scoring, but Le Havre went ahead again seven minutes before the break when Andre Ayew found the net.

    Le Havre made it 3-1 with an Abdoulaye Toure penalty in the 61st minute, before Achrif Hakimi gave PSG hope with a goal 12 minutes from time and Goncalo Ramos levelled in added time. Le Havre are 15th on 29 points.

  • Aston Villa 2-2 Chelsea: Gallagher caps Blues fightback at Villa Park Aston Villa 2-2 Chelsea: Gallagher caps Blues fightback at Villa Park

    Conor Gallagher scored the equaliser as Chelsea fought back from two goals down to clinch a deserved 2-2 draw with Champions League-chasing Aston Villa on Saturday.

    Villa looked set to go nine points clear of Tottenham in the race to finish in the Premier League's top four, with Marc Cucurella's own goal and Morgan Rogers' low drive giving them a handsome half-time lead.

    Mauricio Pochettino's men dominated much of the first half without reward, but they continued to press after the interval and cultured finishes from Noni Madueke and Gallagher dragged them level.

    They almost completed a fine comeback in stoppage time, but there was relief for Villa when referee Craig Pawson disallowed a goal for Chelsea defender Axel Disasi following a VAR review due to an infringement from Benoit Badiashile.

    It meant Villa boss Unai Emery was unable to celebrate his new long-term contract with three points, with his team now seven points clear of fifth-placed Spurs, who have three games in hand on their rivals.

    Chelsea stay ninth and are five points adrift of the top seven, but with a game in hand to come, their European hopes are not yet over.

    Villa made a flying start and were ahead within four minutes, albeit in somewhat fortunate circumstances. John McGinn didn't get a clean connection on Lucas Digne's left-wing cutback, but his shot bounced off Cucurella and into the net.

    Chelsea thought they were level after 16 minutes as Nicolas Jackson raced clear to finish into the roof of the net, but his strike was disallowed for offside after a VAR review, with replays showing he was leaning beyond Matty Cash.

    Jackson should then have equalised when found by Cucurella six yards out, but he could only send his header against the foot of the post and wide.

    Villa then doubled their lead against the run of play shortly before half-time, with Djordje Petrovic powerless as Rogers squeezed his shot through Trevoh Chalobah's legs and in.

    A hamstring injury saw Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez withdrawn at half-time, and his replacement Robin Olsen was beaten after 62 minutes, Madueke stroking home after Gallagher forced a high turnover. 

    Olsen stuck out an arm to deny Madueke a second with 71 minutes gone, but he had no chance as the Blues levelled with nine minutes to play, Gallagher rifling a left-footed finish into the top-left corner.

    Chelsea thought they had won it when Disasi headed home five minutes into stoppage time, but referee Pawson disallowed the goal following a VAR review, with Badiashile adjudged to have fouled Diego Carlos in the build-up.

    Villa throw it away

    Villa could hardly have wished for a stronger position at half-time. Despite Chelsea carving out several good openings, they found themselves 2-0 up and primed to exploit their opponents further through the pace of Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey.

    Chelsea had lost 16 of their previous 18 Premier League games when trailing at half-time (one win, one draw), losing their last eight when two or more goals behind at the break.

    However, Emery's men simply didn't get going after the restart, and only a late VAR review saved them from a crushing defeat, with Disasi's potential winner chalked off for a foul by fellow defender Badiashile.

    Gallagher leads from the front

    Gallagher has polarised opinion at times this season, but Chelsea's stand-in skipper produced a talismanic display just when his team needed him most at Villa Park.

    The England international is known for his tenacious work out of possession, and he forced a turnover on the corner of the Villa box in the build-up to Madueke's goal.

    Gallagher's own strike, which flew into the top corner to stun the home faithful, took him to double figures for Premier League goal involvements for the season (four goals, six assists). He has only achieved that feat in one other campaign in the competition, scoring eight goals and adding three assists on loan at Crystal Palace in 2021-22.

    Four of his seven Premier League goals for Chelsea, meanwhile, have now come from outside the area.

  • Chelsea Women 0-2 Barcelona Femeni (1-2 agg): Holders reach Champions League final again Chelsea Women 0-2 Barcelona Femeni (1-2 agg): Holders reach Champions League final again

    Women's Champions League holders Barcelona overturned a 1-0 first-leg deficit to reach a fourth straight final on Saturday, beating 10-player Chelsea 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.

    Emma Hayes' hopes of ending her glittering spell with the Blues by lifting the Champions League trophy were dashed in heartbreaking fashion in front of a sell-out crowd in West London.

    Barca went ahead through Ballon d'Or winner Aitana Bonmati 26 minutes in, the diminutive Spaniard seeing her shot deflect off Kadeisha Buchanan to beat Hannah Hampton.

    The hosts pushed for a response as Sjoeke Nuksen struck the post, but their position worsened just before the hour mark as Buchanan was perhaps harshly shown a second yellow card for her tackle on Salma Paralluelo.

    Barca penned their hosts back from there and Bonmati was decisive again as they inched ahead with 15 minutes to play, drawing a foul from Ashley Lawrence and allowing Fridolina Rolfo to convert from the penalty spot.

    Jonatan Giraldez's team have won two of the last three editions of the Champions League, also losing in the final to Lyon in 2021-22. They could be reunited with Les Lyonnaises in next month's final in Bilbao, as they hold a 3-2 lead over Paris Saint-Germain at the halfway stage of the other semi-final.

    Data Debrief: Bonmati caps trademark Barca performance

    Aided by Buchanan's red card, Barcelona showcased their mastery of possession-based football at Stamford Bridge, enjoying 67.8 per cent of the possession and completing over twice as many passes as Chelsea (583 to 224).

    Bonmati was at the centre of everything for the Blaugrana, playing a key role in both goals as well as laying on two chances for team-mates and playing 31 passes in the final third – no Chelsea player recorded more than 11. 

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.