Football backs Southgate Maguire to ease criticism after red card England spend

Gareth Southgate When he received an early red card during England’s 1-0 defeat to Denmark in the Nations League, he insisted that Harry Maguire would bounce back after the defender’s miserable start to the season.

Maguire’s form dropped from his court case in Greece and pressure mounted on Manchester United center-back after being shown two yellow cards in 31 minutes at Denmark at Wembley, forcing Southgate to ask questions about his team’s growing discipline and outside. Pitch.

It was an unfortunate night England, After the final whistle Reese James ended up with nine men for the first time in their history after receiving a red card for dissent.

Denmark finished second thanks to a Christian Eriksson penalty, which was changed after Jordan Pickford’s error was penalized for a soft foul on Kyle Walker, and Southgate faced criticism for leaving Jack Greelish on the bench. Inevitably, Maguire caught the attention after two rash tackles led to the 27-year-old’s first half dismissal.

“He’s getting a lot of stick and he’s big enough to deal with it,” Southgate said. “He’s got our support and I know his club will be the same. We have full confidence in him.

“You learn a lot about yourself during these times. You learn a lot about other people. Find out who is for you. He becomes a good player and a strong man for it. Going to 10 men is expensive for the team. But we support him. He showed on Sunday why we are thinking so much with his performance against Belgium.

Southgate, who have acknowledged that it will be difficult to win next month in Belgium and reach the England Nations League finals, have no plans to remove Maguire from the firing line. He wants to play football, ”said the England manager. “A good place for him is on the pitch.”

Maguire’s red card follows Walker’s win over Iceland last month, and Southgate has agreed to be smart on his side after events on and off the pitch. “Historically, 10 men in tournaments, you got out because we had to learn from it,” he said. “Actually things are not right on the field.”