The Harry Maguire Character

Everyone remembers the Harry Maguire Banter Era. If you are a United fan you might have even taken part in it. I hate to admit I did. The memes and youtube shorts flooded with Harry’s misteps after every United game. All the pundits, the fans were just hammering Harry after every game. United’s instagram post comments sections unanimously echoed “Maguire Out” as the solution to all of United’s problems. And then of course Maguire got benched to the joy of a lot of United fans. The downfall from United captain to United bench was complete. It looked like it was down and out for Harry. It seemed like there was no way back. Alas! I was so wrong.

United signed Harry Maguire for a price tag in the range of 80 million euros. I forget the exact number. The only previous player who I thought deserved that kind of a price tag was Ronaldo. Insane transfer fee. Of course, everyone was super excited to watch Harry play. But obviously Harry turned out to be human. Incredibly good in the air but not the fastest player by any means. Honestly he was kinda slow. And he was clumsy with the ball and he faltered now and then. So yes human when everyone was expecting a ronaldo-esq alien. With that insane price tag, Maguire became the scape goat for all of United’s misfortunes. A laughing stock. (Or a crying over stock?).

So what did Maguire do when he inevitably got benched. He did not look for a wayout. He did not publicly respond to the critism thrown at him all all sides. He stayed put. He dug deep. Stayed patient. Trained really well. And then thanks to injuries he got cameo opportunities in matches and he put on a solid performance. After a series of good cameos, lo and behold, Harry was back in the starting 11. In my opinion this comeback was legendary. Lots of lessons here. Number 1: When things arent going your way, work on yourself, fill the gaps. Number 2: Remember who you are, dont let others decide that for you. Have some character. Number 3: Its much better to let your performance do the talking. Thats the best way to silence the haters. Ladies and Gentleman, thats Harry’s worth.