Former Manchester United striker Michael Owen has criticised the performance of Harry Maguire in the club’s draw with Southampton.
Maguire’s struggles and lack of pace in certain situations have been branded “embarrassing” by Owen, and Red Devils fans won’t be too pleased with how Maguire is getting on.
In particular, it reflects badly on previous manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who was clearly given far too much time and control in his unsuccessful spell as manager at Old Trafford.
The Norwegian tactician was at the helm when Maguire joined Man Utd for a frankly ridiculous £80million, as per BBC Sport‘s report at the time.
That’s more than Virgil van Dijk cost, and it’s just one of many poor transfer decisions by United down the years, with other big-name and big-money signings like Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez also flopping.
Still, Maguire remains a key player in this MUFC side, and it’ll be painful reading for the club’s fans to see what Owen is saying about the England international.
“I did fear for him and that was quite embarrassing,” Owen told Premier League Productions, as quoted by the Metro.
“He’s got no pace at the best of times but he was outwitted there (by Broja). Then you’re thinking don’t try to redeem your mistake, he just got away with it and I don’t think it was a penalty.
“But you are fearful when he’s running towards him man you think are you going to try to do something stupid but he just gets away with it.
“His lack of pace is a real problem. We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again. The goal, he could have been squeezing up but he’s petrified of that space in behind.”