Harry Maguire building up his confidence for England is good news for Manchester United | OneFootball

One of the most trolled players in world football at the moment, Harry Maguire is slowly building back his reputation and confidence in the World Cup.

The Manchester United club skipper was under pressure coming into the quadrennial showpiece having lost his place in the starting XI for his club.

But Gareth Southgate ignored the critics and pundits and chose to take his trusted general with him to Qatar and he has not disappointed him so far.

Maguire keeps improving

The 29-year-old was quite good in the opening game against Iran and even assisted one goal and came close to scoring one himself.

He followed that up by being England’s best player in their disappointing draw against USA in the previous game.

While he was not called into action too many times against Wales, he was still a solid presence at the back and his passing was instrumental in putting the Welsh under pressure.

Maguire completed the game with an impressive 92% pass completion rate while having 92 touches of the ball. The centre-back also completed a game-high five long balls.

As expected, the United skipper was immense in the air, winning a 100% of his aerial duels while also completing three clearances and one interception.

Form and confidence both returning

Southgate has entrusted Maguire with his favoured left centre-back role, something Ten hag has not trusted the defender with since arriving at the club.

But with the former Leicester City player gaining in confidence and showing his passing range, Ten Hag’s options will definitely be boosted considering Raphael Varane‘s injury-record.

Maguire himself will be relived to be playing regularly and having the trust of his manager in a difficult season.

England emerged 3-0 winners thanks to a brace from United teammate Marcus Rashford to qualify in first place in their group and will now face Senegal in the knockout round.