I really feel for Harry Maguire at the moment. There’s not a player in his career that hasn’t had a confidence crisis. Okay, maybe Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona, and perhaps a small number of others, but the majority have had a time when they’re really struggling.
I certainly have, I’ll be honest. There are times when I was like, ‘Wow, I don’t know what I’m doing here’. I would get the ball and the game feels so, so foreign to me. My confidence was low. And then the crowd get on your back a little bit.
There are other times in your career where you get the ball, and you feel like you literally cannot make a mistake. Even when you hit a bad pass, someone somehow gets the ball and everyone’s like: ‘Corr, how good was that?!’
Harry Maguire is just having a moment. It’s as simple as that. The only thing you can do is work hard and look after yourself. My advice would be to come straight off social media, and not to read anything about yourself and just hope that this will pass.
It’s not going to get any easier, I mean, he’s got to play against Paris Saint Germain, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe next week! That’s sometimes the best thing for you, though, to get back out there.
To play and accept that this is a tough, tough, time for you and he will come through it. He’s not become a bad player overnight, he’d not have become Manchester United’s captain if he was a bad player.
I got a bit of criticism for sticking up for Harry after he was sent off for England in their 1-0 Nations League loss to Denmark in the week. But I don’t think criticism will help him get back into form right now.
There were certain players who I played with who when they had that pressure on them, their sanctuary was getting out there on the pitch. For 90 minutes, they can relax, no problems at home, no girlfriend drama, anything. They can go out on the pitch and just play.
Harry’s not that sort of guy, and that’s okay. He’s had so much going on both on and off the field and it has impacted him, and that’s also okay. I don’t want to have a go at him, it would’ve been easier for me after the Denmark game to sit there and criticise him, but I didn’t want to.
Sometimes you don’t know what’s going on in someone’s mind.
As I’ve got a bit older, and we understand a bit more, it’s clear to me you’ve got to be a bit more empathetic with people and not just slaughter them. Everyone has their problems in life.
Harry’s having a bit of a moment at the minute, but he’s a great guy, and I’m confident he will come through it not just for his club but for England, too.
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