"I don't think it is fair" - Aston Villa's Tyrone Mings says Manchester United star is not a weak link in the England national team
Aston Villa center-back Tyrone Mings believes it is unfair to term Manchester United’s Harry Maguire as a "weak link" in the England defense.
Maguire has endured a difficult season at Old Trafford, and his performances have been heavily scrutinized.
The England international had a poor first half of the season as Manchester United suffered heavy defeats against Leicester City, Liverpool, and Watford.
Although the entire Red Devils defense was to blame, Maguire often bore the brunt for his side’s poor defensive displays.
"To take a negative spin on that just shows people don’t always know what is going on."
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Despite the performances, Maguire was called up by England manager Gareth Southgate for the friendlies against Switzerland and Ivory Coast.
Mings, who has kept his place in the England squad following his displays for Aston Villa, backed Maguire and said it was unfair to call him a weak link.
He told The Times:
"He comes under a lot of scrutiny, a lot of it misplaced at times because people are going on like the team is actually fully functioning and Harry is the weak link, which I don’t think is fair whatsoever.
"As a center-back your mistakes are always highlighted — that’s just the territory, the position you play in, so that is what we accept — but I don’t think it has affected Harry. He is a great guy, a great character, a great leader and his service to the national team has been unbelievable really."
The 29-year-old added that the English set-up enables players to leave behind their club form and start afresh with the national team. He explained:
"Whatever is happening at club level, the manager and the players here make it really easy to leave it at the door and come into a whole new environment, with different faces, voices and stimulus. That’s probably why you see players sometimes playing differently for the national team than they do at club level, because it is a whole different world really. He’s doing well."
Manchester United's Harry Maguire needs to step up with others around him doing well
It’s clear that Harry Maguire isn’t playing some of his best football at Manchester United, but he needs to step up in the coming months.
The likes of Ben White, Conor Coady, and Marc Guehi have all done well for their respective clubs and are pushing for starts. Mings himself has improved at Aston Villa under Steven Gerrard.
#BBCFootballGareth Southgate says Harry Maguire has shown he can play at the highest level - but he warned that players "can't be poor for a couple of years".
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England play with three center-backs, so there’s plenty of room for Maguire in the lineup.
However, if the aforementioned players continue their impressive club form, Southgate is going to find it hard not to make use of them.