Harry Maguire was not selected by England manager Thomas TuchelHarry Maguire was not selected by England manager Thomas Tuchel
Harry Maguire was not selected by England manager Thomas Tuchel | Getty Images
Man Utd have changed to a back three under Ruben Amorim and it could be bad news for one experienced star.
England manager Thomas Tuchel has suggested that Manchester United's recent tactical change was part of the reason why Harry Maguire was overlooked from his first international squad. Tuchel named a 26-man squad for wins over Albania and Latvia, with recalls for Marcus Rashford and Jordan Henderson, but no place for United defender Maguire.
The 32-year-old struggled for fitness ahead of the March international break and missed the last four United matches due to injury. He was in contention to potentially return against former side Leicester earlier in the month, but was not risked for the match against one of the worst sides in the Premier League.
Maguire is expected to be available when United face Nottingham Forest next Tuesday night, and although fitness issues were part of the problem, Tuchel also claimed there was a tactical element to the decision. The experienced centre-back has impressed as part of a back three for both club and country, while the new England manager has reverted to a more traditional back-four.
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Why Harry Maguire was not selected for England duty
Speaking after the victory over Latvia on Monday night, England manager Thomas Tuchel revealed the two reasons why Manchester United defender Harry Maguire had not been involved.
“I spoke to everyone who was not nominated and (Maguire) was on the (long) list,” Tuchel told reporters. “I spoke to all of them to give them my direct feedback, why this is. It was a close decision. “We chose Marc Guehi and Ezri Konsa. At the moment I think they are a little bit in a better rhythm and deserve to be with us, so two right-footers in central defence and the rest was left-footers in central defence.
“Yeah, but the second reason was that he was not fit when we did the nomination. It was presumed that he can play but I didn’t want to take the risk to nominate a player in which we have to take care in the first training, second training and constantly need to assess if he can do full training session, half training session.
“We did the same with Reece James and only for the feedback that he can do every session full was the reason that we brought him into camp. Harry knows that. It’s not so easy at the moment for him in the club. He plays in a back three on top of it but, listen, he’s a top professional, he’s very important, he was very important for England. Maguire took it unbelievably well. He wrote me messages to wish us good luck, so you see what a person he is, a top guy. He will always be in contention.”
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Related topics:Thomas TuchelHarry MaguireEnglandJordan HendersonMarcus Rashford
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