Yesterday evening.
Manchester United Football Club
Announced the signing of England center back Harry Maguire for a transfer fee of £80 million.
The transfer was a long time coming.
Manchester United Football Club
There has been early interest in Maguire, and after last year's losing season, the defense can't wait to rebuild.
Manchester United Football Club
Very determined to sign Maguire this summer.
Harry Maguire is 26 years old and previously played for Leicester City, he is a super-heavy center back at 194. Starting the 2017 season playing for the then already
England Premier Soccer League
Championship winning Leicester City, he has been outstanding over the years and the times are on his side. There aren't a lot of quality center backs in the soccer world today, and the England national team also has a center back problem. At the 2018 World Cup, England's center backs only consisted of Stones and Garry Cahill, and Cahill was already a bit old and out of shape with injuries, which is why Maguire was born out of nowhere. England national team manager Gareth Southgate was bold enough to use Maguire, and the result was quite successful. Maquire, Stones, and Cahill formed a backline that allowed England to play all the way to the fourth place in the World Cup, and the defense situation was quite good. After the World Cup, Maguire became England's ace center back.
Maguire started his youth career at Sheffield United and spent the next three years in the Championship, apart from the 10/11 season, before being
England Premier Soccer League
Hull City took a liking to him and bought him. However, after only three games in the 14/15 season he was loaned out to Wigan Athletic to train in the Championship, and when he returned at the end of his loan, Hull City had been relegated back to the Championship, where he stayed for another year until the 16/17 season when he returned with Hull City.
England Premier Soccer League
. This was the year he was only in
England Premier Soccer League
Having appeared in 29 games as a starter, at which point he was 24 years old, it's safe to say that before he turned 24, he was barely in the
England Premier Soccer League
Combat experience.
It's not without reason that it would be, judging by Maguire's performance. Just kidding, he's actually what's known as a goofy big guy, didn't look particularly skilled before, wasn't fast, wasn't even agile, he does use his height to head the ball well, but a young 20 year old is going to have to rely on that alone to be in the
England Premier Soccer League
Survival can be too difficult. He doesn't appear to be a particularly aggressive type of tackler either, and in a weak championship where overall ability has yet to improve, Maguire doesn't really have what it takes to entice a team to buy him other than his size, and even if he were to be asked, he'd only be used as a backup.
Maguire was picked up by Leicester City for £17m after he turned 24 and has since made a difference at Leicester, having only made one appearance for the England U21s before that, and arguably wasn't even in the England national team's selection pipeline.
Maguire's ability has improved greatly since he played for Leicester, as can be seen from his time at Hull City where he often just stood in the box as a wall, and his header clearances weren't always clearing far, and the same headers that were cleared didn't reach his teammates a lot of the time. However, after playing for Leicester City, his defensive ability has improved a lot, his long passes are more accurate, and he has a clear understanding of his teammates' positions. The most important thing is that he obviously uses the change of pace to carry the ball and defend, which is only a basic skill in general players, and it's not a good skill unless it's very explosive. However, when it comes to Maguire, who is 194 in height and has high strength, it starts to become his unique skill.
Maguire's height is 194, which is not only tall, it can be said that he is too tall. When he is carrying the ball, his center of gravity can't be low enough to make a change of direction. Originally, this kind of carrying is not something that people would be afraid of, as long as a huddle will still drop the ball. However, after Maguire's ability to make long and medium distance passes has improved, as soon as he takes the ball and takes a step away from the opponent, the opponent will have to guard against his long passes. Due to his great strength, as long as he takes the ball gently, he will be able to form a long pass, and the opponent will have to start to back off and guard the attacker in front of him, and the space in front of Maguire will become bigger at this time. He uses a high center of gravity to push the ball forward, which looks like he's floating, which is not a good way to change direction and burst into a sprint. However, Maguire's height is not suitable for changing direction and sprinting, and what he does is to push the ball forward with a big stride, and use his stature to block the opponent when he comes over, and slow down the tempo to use his body to block between the opponent and the ball and then push forward again.
When the opponent wants to come up to intercept the ball, Maguire will take a big step to protect the ball to form a back to get the ball, and then distribute it to his teammates. This kind of kicking style makes him a highly capable of protecting the ball as a pusher, and he can often take the ball all the way across the center line to the outside of the penalty area, or else he can suddenly launch a long pass to the two wings right at the center line.
This is a very effective use of physical dominance, making Maguire's possession of the ball very hard to steal, and at the same time making his attack much more effective. On the defensive side, Maguire will also use the rhythm of slowing down to defend, he will slow down a little bit before the opposing attacking midfielder passes the ball, and stay in the line between the striker and the midfielder inside, in order to guard against the direct pass in the one-touch ball. Because of his height and long legs, if the midfielder has to pass hard to the center, it is easy to be blocked by him, so he can only put a little outside, at this time, the attacker must be a little more to the outside around in order to shoot on both sides of the penalty area. When the pass is released, Maguire accelerates to catch up with the striker, using his big stride, he can clear the ball before the attacker shoots, and of course, he is quite accurate in clearing the ball at the last kick.
