Harry Maguire might be getting all the support and backing from United legend Wayne Rooney but the former Leicester City centre back is having a hard time finding his feet at the back for the Red Devils.
Manchester United’s 4-0 defeat to Liverpool in the Premier League was absolute testimony to the fact that there is a massive gap in quality between the two teams, that are supposed to be “rivals”. United’s fall and fall might be attributed to a systematic and tactical failure from the board to the management, but the glaring reality is that the team does need an overhaul in defence regardless.
Harry Maguire has been under fire throughout the current season. He joined the club in 2019 after his stint with Leicester City on a world-record fee for a defender at 80 million pounds. However, he has never been able to stamp his authority at the club as a central defender. Maguire has been decent in bits and pieces, but his inconsistency has resulted in significant damage to his portrayal in the English Media.
The 29-year old Three Lions skipper was again at the end of further misadventure as he was taken on a ride by none other than Mohamed Salah in the Liverpool-United clash. Maguire was spot way off his position in a disjointed United defence as Mane easily found Salah on the right side of the field, who then went on to set up Luis Diaz for the first goal of the game, barely after five minutes.
Maguire’s lack of positioning awareness had quietly stunned the home fans throughout the game. The Englishman was guilty of another lapse in positioning as Liverpool were gunning for the fourth goal. As Diogo Jota attempted to set up Salah, Maguire tried to be a bit too cheeky and tried to play the Egyptian offside, but ended up allowing Salah to get a simple chip-in to make it 4-0 on the night.
The fourth goal was apparently a bit too much for Maguire as he raged down on himself in frustration as Salah joined the Kop at the back to celebrate his goal in his infamous tree pose.
If the contrasting emotions on the pitch was not enough, the cameramen across the pitch took an iconic shot of the two players showing their emotions which has put Liverpool and football fans in general in quite a bit of frenzy.
A fan even captioned the image as “When Harry Met Salah” along the lines of the famous Hollywood movie, “When Harry Met Sally”.
Liverpool fans claimed that one would not find a better photo than this. It is safe to say the photo has indeed gone viral on social media and people who back Maguire are simply not amused.
Salah’s tree pose is not new for fans who have been following Liverpool and the Egyptian in the last few years. His iconic tree pose signifies the tree in Yoga which stands for balance and grounding, something that can be taken as his commitment to Liverpool over the years.
While Maguire battles for his future at the club with Erik Ten Hag all set to take charge, Salah will be hoping to lead Liverpool to an unprecedented quadruple in the season.