England’s manager, Gareth Southgate, slammed Harry Maguire’s detractors tonight, calling their treatment of the center back for Manchester United “a joke.”
Maguire, who has been stripped of United’s captaincy and informed he has no future at Old Trafford, entered the game in the second half of this evening’s friendly international match between Scotland and England at Hampden.
Despite the visitors having a 2-0 lead when the defender joined the pitch, he received jeers whenever he touched the ball and ended up scoring an own goal by diverting an Andy Robertson cross into his own goal.
However, Southgate was motivated to defend the 30-year-old after the game after hearing the 59-time international player’s name sung by the visiting fans during the 3-1 victory.
From the perspective of a fan of Scotland, he declared, “I understand and have no issues with anything they did.
But Harry’s treatment is the result of the ridiculous treatment he has experienced for a long time.
One supporter remarked, “I’ve never seen a player handled so brutally by our own pundits and commentators. I’m quite passionate about it.
His contributions to England’s most successful team go back a long time. He has been a rock and a pillar, and it is simply amazing to see the balls he has displayed and does so every time he goes outside. All of us are cheering for him since he is a fantastic player.
After the game, Harry was OK. He made a huge contribution to our triumphant victory and handled the media in his customary way. Everything about him shows his character.
Despite receiving feedback after England’s 1-1 tie with Ukraine in a Euro 2024 qualifying match on Saturday in Poland, Southgate was pleased with his team’s performance against Scotland.
To quiet the incredible mood, he stated, “We wanted to give a controlled performance on the ball.”
“Our work without the ball was fantastic, and we posed a real threat with our passing in behind.” A fantastic performance and performance were the outcome. I think we did a wonderful job, to put it simply. Thanks to us, Scotland was no longer a danger.
Jude Bellingham performed admirably. We knew that Scotland would have problems in that situation. Their midfield can influence games if given the chance, but we did not give them that chance.
The improvements the team has made and the work Steve Clarke is making, according to Southgate, should make the Scottish fans quite proud.
“I’m sure there will be a reaction to the result here, but it’s important to understand that we haven’t had that reaction since the Ukraine game, which was three days ago.”
