Whenever Roy Keane has a microphone in his hand, it’s probably best that Harry Maguire keeps his fingers in his ears.
Another game, another scathing assessment of Maguire’s performance and, most damningly, his character from the outspoken pundit.
You may have thought Keane would be pleased to see Maguire, a player so desperately out of form for Manchester United, rise above the chatter and the Albanian back line to head in England’s first goal.
Roy Keane has frequently been unforgiving in his assessments of Harry Maguire
Keane was unhappy with Maguire's celebration after scoring for England against Albania
Even if he was, that soon changed when Maguire wheeled away cupping his ears, then put his fingers into them as he slid on his knees.
‘I think that’s embarrassing,’ said Keane during his stint on ITV’s coverage. ‘He’s been a disgrace the last few months for Manchester United. He thinks he scores there he’s shut his critics up — embarrassing.’
Well, there is no more vocal a critic of Maguire right now than Keane and it certainly did not shut him up. Maguire insisted afterwards his celebration was aimed at no one in particular but, well, you can believe that if you really want to.
Before United’s game against Tottenham, Keane was asked to reflect on the previous 5-0 defeat by Liverpool. He ended up doing a mocking impression of Maguire’s ‘robotic’ voice. Once again, Maguire was a ‘disgrace’.
‘An absolute disgrace to the club,’ said Keane of Maguire and Luke Shaw. ‘I remember Maguire talking in the week, he was like a robot.’ Then, in a monotone drawl: ‘He was like, “Errrr, ohhh apologies to the fans”, there was no emotion behind it. Maguire talking about, “We need to come together as a group”. No. You need to sort your game out.’
Maguire has struggled for Manchester United this season, as Keane has acknowledged
Harry Maguire's biggest mistake wasn’t his goal celebration against Albania, it was the subsequent denial about what it meant.
Cupping his ears to silence critics was silly but understandable. It didn’t do him any favours because it overshadowed the fact he scored and played well but I also have empathy because it’s not always easy to control your emotions if you have been hammered for weeks.
But having made the ill-advised gesture, the Manchester United captain should have then been honest afterwards, explained he’d been under pressure and over-reacted.
He would have received more sympathy by owning the situation that way instead of the rather shallow claim that his signal hadn’t been directed at anyone. I don’t think many will believe that.
It’s a shame really because apart from the way he reacted to scoring, Maguire had a good night and deserved his clean sheet.
United fans will hope it marks a turning point in his form but I’d be wary of basing that wish on one game against Albania, who posed far fewer problems than Maguire will face in the Premier League.
Maguire should have been honest after the game when discussing his celebration
I think the key to Maguire’s recovery is his
