Maguire vs Van Dijk: Dean Henderson's opinion has aged like milk

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·12 February 2022

Maguire vs Van Dijk: Dean Henderson's opinion has aged like milk

The 2021/22 season has been one to forget for Harry Maguire thus far.

After his heroics with England at Euro 2020 back in the summer, the Manchester United captain has looked anything but an £80 million defender over the past six months or so.

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In Premier League action, Maguire has been a bit of a disaster, regularly committing mistakes that lead to goals for the opposing team.

On Tuesday evening, the former Leicester City man was at fault for Burnley’s equaliser at Turf Moor. Maguire was spun by Wout Weghorst and the defender was then unable to recover and prevent Jay Rodriguez from scoring.

The 28-year-old really is a pale shadow of the player that dominated the likes of Germany and Ukraine in an England shirt just over half a year ago.

After watching Maguire at Euro 2020, you would have sworn that he was one of the very best centre-backs in the world and worthy of his enormous price tag.

Many football fans fell into that trap and so did a number of fellow footballers – including England and United teammate Dean Henderson.

Just before the Three Lions’ Euro 2020 final heartbreak against Italy, the goalkeeper boldly decided to compare Maguire to Liverpool‘s Virgil van Dijk.

It’s safe to say his words have aged like milk…

Henderson on Maguire vs Van Dijk

“How can you doubt Harry Maguire? Nobody can doubt him,” Henderson told talkSPORT.

“He plays every single game for Manchester United, the biggest football club in the world and no matter what he gives his best.

“Unfortunately you can’t play outstanding in every game because nobody is perfect, but Harry is a top centre-half.

“I’d put him in the same category as Virgil van Dijk, and I’ll be proven right in the next couple of years, because he’s only going to get better and better.”

Oh dear…

Don’t worry, Dean, you’re almost certainly not the only one that made that comparison at the time. But sadly, your words are now in the public domain forever.

When Henderson made those comments, Van Dijk had not played a game of football for close to a year after suffering a serious knee injury in a Merseyside derby against Everton in late 2020.

But he’s been back to his silky, commanding best at the heart of Liverpool’s defence this season and the Dutchman’s performance in the 2-0 win over Leicester on Thursday evening was simply magnificent.

Van Dijk was a Rolls-Royce at Anfield, while Maguire’s display against Burnley two nights prior was like that of a Robin Reliant.