Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has insisted that Harry Maguire has an important role at the club despite the Englishman losing his place in the starting eleven.
Maguire had started for Man Utd in their first two Premier League games of the season: a 2-1 loss to Brighton and a humble 4-0 at the hands of Brentford.
But since then, Ten Hag has preferred to play with Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martínez as the central defense duo.
Maguire has been limited to just five appearances in all competition for Man Utd this season as a result of losing his place in the starting XI and a hamstring injury, from which he recovered and restarted training.
Harry Maguire has a big role at Man Utd, insists Erik ten Hag
Maguire could get some much-needed playing time before the next World Cup after Varane picked up an injury in the previous Man Utd match.
The Frenchman sustained an injury after stretching himself too far in an attempt to challenge Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang during Man Utd’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea. Man Utd manager Ten Hag has since confirmed that Varane will not play for Man Utd in the remainder of their World Cup matches.
Speaking ahead of Man Utd’s Europa League match against FC Sheriff, Ten Hag insisted that Maguire has an important role at the club.
“He (Maguire) always has an important role. He was injured and he’s happy to be back and now he has to get back to games. It’s always about performance. As for his qualities, there is no problem. He is a great player and he has great capabilities to do a job for us,” said Ten Hag.
Man Utd arrives at the match against FC Sheriff after their draw against Chelsea. At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea scored first before Man Utd snatched a point from them with a looping header from Casemiro in stoppage time.
Meanwhile, in the Europa League, Man Utd sit second in Group E with nine points from four games. The Old Trafford side have three wins and one loss from four games in the competition this season.
They started their 22/23 Europa League campaign with a 1-0 loss to Real Sociedad. Since then, they have played three matches in the competition and have won them all.
FC Sheriff, who Man Utd face next, sit third in the points table with three points from four matches. The Red Devils had secured a 2-0 win when the two teams met in the group stage earlier.
