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Manchester United defender Harry Maguire’s comments after missing out on a place in England’s World Cup squad has now drawn a response from Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel. The English defender has been on a rejuvenated run with the Red Devils this season and has been key to their rise under Michael Carrick.
The former midfielder, who has now been confirmed as United’s permanent manager, has helped the team secure third place in the Premier League table with a game left in the season. Maguire has started every game under Carrick except for the matches against Leeds United and Chelsea, for which he was suspended.
His impressive performances earned him a call-up to national team during the previous international break in March. However, news broke on Thursday that the 33 year old had been left out of the England squad, prompting a strong reaction from the player on social media.
His absence has now been confirmed as Tuchel has revealed his 55-man provisional squad for the summer’s tournament.
Harry Maguire Stats: 2025/26 Season
| Competition | Appearances | Starts | Goals | Assists | Yellow Cards | Second Yellow | Red Cards | Minutes Played |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premier League | 22 | 18 | 1 | 2 | 3 | – | 1 | 1,565′ |
| Total | 22 | 18 | 1 | 2 | 3 | – | 1 | 1,565′ |
Source: Transfermarkt.
Difficult decision
Maguire is among a host of high-profile absentees, including Cole Palmer, Phil Foden, Adam Wharton, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Morgan Gibbs-White. When pressed on the matter, Tuchel said: “Very difficult decisions, painful conversations. Difficult for the players, difficult to explain to the players. What we’re trying to achieve as a team and we try to nominate a balanced squad.”
“If everyone is selected, it was a given that from these 55 players, we have to leave some extraordinary talents, some extraordinary personalities at home. Either way, if we picked all those names, some other big five names would have been out and we would be talking about these names.”
“It comes with the job. I like these kinds of decisions, even if it sometimes took weeks and sometimes, months to clarify the decisions. I think they bring clarity. At the end, they bring a certain edge that is necessary.”
“I try to explain for the players the reason they could be in camp. Did they do anything wrong? No. Could they be in camp? Yes. 100% sure. But for some of them, it is just the amount of players in a certain position. We didn’t want to play the players out of position so much and we wanted to give them a clear role and it comes with difficult and maybe hard choices in the build up to the tournament.”
Team ahead of egos
Tuchel went on to acknowledge that he was surprised by Maguire’s reaction, adding that he would have liked to have the discussion in private. He said: “I was a bit surprised, but I respect his personality a lot, I respect his quality a lot. He has had an outstanding season, I can see the disappointment, I can see the reason behind the disappointment.”
“Still I was a bit surprised because we had a private conversation and he had the chance to express his feelings which he did and this is fair enough because I can see all the reasons why he could be in the squad.”
“But, the decision is that we stood firmly with our central defenders that carried us through September, October and November. Some of them are part of the leadership group that took ownership and set the standards high. It was a decision for these 26 players, even if it feels against individuals.”
Final Thoughts
Maguire was a key figure in England’s run to the semi-finals of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the final of Euro 2020. While he could not earn a place in Tuchel’s squad, the Englishman’s performances this season have already been rewarded, with United tying him down to a new deal last month.
Featured image by Molly Darlington/Getty Images
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