It was late 2023 when David Beckham reached out to Harry Maguire to offer his support.
Maguire had been ruthlessly booed by England fans, something Beckham had first hand experience of as a player, as well as Manchester United fans and many expected the centre back to crumble beneath the bile being sent in his direction.
Beckham, a role model to Maguire, reminded him of his achievements to date, the hard work he’d put in to get to Manchester United and why giving up now was not on the table. Maguire had a shot in the arm that refused to allow him to crumble.
Stripped of the captaincy by Erik ten Hag and an escape route to West Ham was put on the table, Maguire has long attested that he continues to have unfinished business at Old Trafford.
And so when Ruben Amorim called for leaders, called for players to dig in with United in the trenches these days it is perhaps no surprise that Maguire, the man who has had adversity cling to him like a shadow, is always there to be counted on.
For a start, Maguire found himself bed-bound with flu last week and missed two days of training in the lead up to Sunday’s FA Cup thriller against Arsenal. Shaking that off he went on to dominate a contest that he played 104 minutes in.
Harry Maguire’s redemption arc reached new heights with a colossal performance at Arsenal
Ruben Amorim (right) sees Maguire (left) as the ‘perfect’ fit in the middle of his back three
‘When you play for this club, the lows are really low and the highs are really high. You’ve got to try and maintain yourself,’ Maguire said after his colossal display at Arsenal in which he made more clearances, blocked more shots and won more headers than anyone else on the pitch.
‘There’s going to be games where you play bad and everyone jumps on you. But those games when you play well, you become the best player in your position in the world. So you’ve got to stay grounded and level-headed.’
When Amorim arrived with a steadfast determination to implement a 3-4-2-1 system it looked the most natural fit for a player of Maguire’s profile.
He had played on the left of a back three under Gareth Southgate with England and so moving away from Erik ten Hag’s 4-2-3-1 was expected to come more naturally to him than it would to others.
But it is actually as the central centre back where Amorim believes he can maximise Maguire’s skillset.
‘Harry Maguire is perfect when you play with three defenders,’ Amorim said after the 2-1 derby win over Manchester City.
‘He is perfect in the middle. All the guys defended very well in the derby, not just Harry. They were very focused.’
Amorim does not want Maguire rushing backwards towards his own goal and wants to protect against that by putting players with greater athleticism either side of him, for the most part this is Lisandro Martinez to his left and Matthjis de Ligt to his right. £52m summer signing Leny Yoro, a ‘jewel’ in Ineos’ crown as one source put it recently, is on a watching brief from the sidelines right now.
Carrying the ball out from the back was an area Maguire improved on under Erik ten Hag
The form of Maguire means that £52m summer signing Leny Yoro (right) is struggling for starts
Amorim is incredibly demanding of what he wants from his defenders and is requiring his central centre back to step out and into the midfield to build up the play, an area Maguire improved immeasurably in under Amorim’s predecessor Erik ten Hag.
When United’s hierarchy met weeks back to go over plans for January and also looking ahead to the summer, Amorim made it plain that an extension for Maguire was a must, leading to a 12-month option being picked up.
‘Ruben said to me that when it came across to him that I had an option (to extend my contract), that it was a no brainer,’ Maguire said.
‘It’s given me confidence and belief that they want me at the club and part of this project. I’m happy to be here. I want this club to be back fighting for titles and not fighting where we are in the table right now. We’ve got a long way to go.’
Amorim represents Maguire’s sixth manager – including interim bosses Michael Carrick and Ruud van Nistelrooy – at Old Trafford and it won’t have been lost on the Portuguese coach how all of them came to rely on Maguire.
‘He’s a leader in the dressing room – by performances, presence, stature and behaviour. He’s a character that you’d say you’d like to follow,’ Ole Gunnar Solskjaer once said.
‘Some are technical leaders, some are leaders by voice and he’s got the lot really.’
‘Defensively he was very present. He was vocal on the pitch. He played like a captain should play,’ came Ralf Rangnick’s verdict.
Even Jose Mourinho, who never actually coached Maguire, waxed lyrical of him when making a rare appearance as a TV pundit.
Maguire’s stats under Erik ten Hag compared to his stats working under Amorim so far
‘He was solid like a rock,’ Mourinho previously said of him. ‘As we know he is very important for a team to have not just the tactical knowledge to have that personality the sense of reading the game all the time.’
What Maguire may lack in athleticism and pace he more than makes up for in bravery, his level headedness and, more important than both of those, his footballing IQ.
There are those, such as former Manchester United defender Patrice Evra, who want to see Maguire reinstated as captain ahead of Bruno Fernandes.
But it perhaps the freedom of not wearing the armband and being able to focus on the art of defending which is allowing Maguire to work his way back to the top now.
‘I’m 31 now, coming up to 32 but I’m getting back to that [top] level. I also think I was at that level last season as well, so it’s been 18 months now where I’d say I’ve been playing consistently well for this club again,’ Maguire added.
‘There’s no doubt I had a tough year in my third season when Ralf (Rangnick) took over.
‘I wasn’t at my best, I knew that, I knew I needed to find something to stay at this club because it demands high standards and I feel like I’ve found something. Mentally and physically, I feel good.’
Maguire has become a mainstay as the central centre back for United since the derby win
It’s been far from perfect for United defensively of late but in Maguire, Amorim has a player he knows will swim when others will sink and that is worth its weight in gold as he looks to turn this club around.
‘There are moments in the career of a player that are different and I think he coped very well with these struggles,’ Amorim explained recently.
‘When you look at our team we are starving for leaders on the pitch. He is a leader, he has to improve that part, he has to improve his game so we are happy to continue with Harry.’
If this revival is just the start for Maguire under Amorim, this could prove a match made in heaven.
