Last night, England defeated Albania by a 5-0 scoreline, and with that Gareth Southgate’s men are on the brink of qualifying for the World Cup. Harry Kane’s hattrick ensured smooth sailing for the English boys.
Manchester United center-back Harry Maguire scored the first goal of the match. Even after the match was so exciting to watch, it also created a bit of controversy.
Harry Maguire’s ear listening celebration after scoring his goal brought in loads of responses from various pundits and former players. Some try to support him and some harshly criticize him.
As reported by talkSPORT, the story started after Roy Keane blasted the United center-back for shutting down his critics with that goal celebration. Harry Maguire has been going through a really patchy phase with Manchester United. He has been inconsistent and the creator of silly mistakes game after game.
However, his performances for England have been quite professional and up to the mark. Roy Keane was not pleased by the way Maguire was trying to shut his critics down and the former United player believes that this England goal will not solve the issues regarding his form with the club.
The celebration truly got into his head as he said:
“He’s put his hands to his ears like he’s shutting the critics up, but I think that’s embarrassing. He’s been a disgrace the last few months for Man United. He thinks because he’s scored there he’s going to shut his critics up?.”
Well, it was quite tough words from the former United captain who has been criticizing Maguire on numerous occasions due to his below-par defensive performances for Manchester United.
This goal will certainly boost Maguire’s confidence but will not justify his past performances.
On the other hand, there are many other pundits and former players who are supporting Harry Maguire and they think that the centre-back should celebrate and reply back to his critics.
Former league players Micah Richards and John Terry has backed Maguire to continue celebrating in his own manner and not try to listen to other embarrassing comments.
Former Manchester City defender Micah Richards talked about this on his Twitter page.
People: Footballers are like robots, they have no personality!
Harry Maguire. Scores the opening goal for his country, celebrates with real passion whilst referencing those who have been criticising him.
People: That's embarrassing pic.twitter.com/T7bfC0FphK
— Micah Richards (@MicahRichards) November 13, 2021
And former Chelsea centre-back John Terry also supported Richard’s claims.
100% Agree mate https://t.co/FBrBx32IQB
— John Terry (@JohnTerry26) November 13, 2021
They rather want Maguire to play in his own way and grow confidence within him. It was also their direct shot at Roy Keane over his comments.
While these pundits debate over this, former Chelsea striker Tony Cascarino had a laugh at Roy Keane’s manner of tearing apart Maguire through his comments.
He has agreed to the fact that Roy Keane has been taking aim at Maguire quite recently due to his poor performances and has been throwing harsh words on the centre-back every time he gets the chance.
Tony Cascarino said:
“When he goes for you, he really goes for you. I always laugh. Unfortunately for Harry, Roy has only had a few months of watching him play badly. He’s probably thought, ‘If you do something like you just did, I’m going to give it to you’.”
Well after all of this, you will anxiously wait for the player himself to talk about this situation. Harry Maguire did speak about his celebration and he said that the celebration was not directed at anyone.
As reported by talkSPORT, the United captain said:
“I’m Manchester United captain, of course, I’m going get criticism when the team isn’t doing well but the celebration wasn’t directed at anyone.”
Nobody expected this simple celebration to bring in such awkward controversy. The goal did boost Maguire’s confidence and we think that the United captain should build on this and try to find his feet for the club as well.
