Maguire defends Utd form: My win % is ridiculous
Harry Maguire has defended his Manchester United record by insisting his win percentage is “ridiculously high” but admitted he could leave the club in January if he struggles to break back into the first team.
The 30-year-old has been largely frozen out by Erik ten Hag since the Dutchman took charge at Old Trafford last summer, making just 16 starts in all competitions last season and only two more this term.
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However, United won 12 of those 16 matches last season — a 75% win ratio which dropped to 63% when he was absent (29 wins from 46 games).
United have endured a dismal start to the campaign, losing six of 11 games but Maguire’s only two starts came in victories over Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup and Brentford in the Premier League just prior to the international break.
Speaking at St George’s Park ahead of England’s friendly against Australia on Friday, Maguire said: “It’s not my decision to whether I start the next game or not. I’m unsure on that. I’m sure in a couple of weeks I’ll go back and find out.
“If you look back on my last 15-20 starts for club and country, I would be happy to sit here and say I’m really happy with my performances.
“My record under this manager speaks for itself. I haven’t started as many games as I like, but my win percentage when I’ve played is ridiculously high.
“Of course there are times when I could do more and times when I could improve and help the team.
“But I’m just wanting to help the team, I’m wanting to help the team get out of this position we’re in at the moment. Hopefully we can do that in the coming weeks.”
England boss Gareth Southgate has kept Maguire in his squad to face Australia and Italy despite a lack of action at club level.
But with Euro 2024 to come next summer and a growing number of centre-backs pushing for inclusion — including Marc Guehi, John Stones, Levi Colwill, Lewis Dunk and Fikayo Tomori — Maguire hinted that he may have to reassess his club future if he is not playing regularly.
“I am not going to sit here all my life and play once a month and if it carries on I am sure myself and the club will sit down and have a chat about things,” said Maguire, who joined United in 2019 for £80 million from Leicester City, still a world-record fee for a defender.
“But honestly at the moment I am focused on two games for England, two big games, and then I am fully focused on fighting to try and win back my place at Manchester United and trying to help the team climb up the league to where we should be.
“I have belief in my ability and what I have done in my career and as every player should, every player who is on the bench should believe they should be starting otherwise they wouldn’t be playing at a high level.
“I am no different. It has been tough, I want to play games, I want to feel important to the club and to the rest of the team. At the moment I haven’t been playing nowhere near as much as I would like.
“That is the bottom line of it and I just have to make sure I am ready to take the opportunities when they come along.”