Jordan thinks ‘rusty’ Maguire ‘was good’ against Germany as he joins defence of Man Utd captain

Former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan thought England defender Harry Maguire “was good” against Germany on Monday night.

Gareth Southgate was criticised for calling up Maguire for the Nations League matches against Italy and Germany with the Manchester United captain only starting two of the Red Devils’ first six Premier League matches.

But Maguire started both matches for the Three Lions as Southgate’s side lost 1-0 to Italy and came back from 2-0 down to draw with Germany 3-3.

The famous Football365 England World Cup ladder: How far has Harry Maguire dropped?

Maguire gifted Germany their opening goal on Monday night when he passed the ball to Bayern Munich youngster Jamal Musiala on the edge of the box before bringing him down for a penalty kick.

The Man Utd skipper was criticised and abused on social media for his performance but Jordan didn’t think his overall display was bad.

“I thought Maguire was good,” Jordan told talkSPORT.

“Obviously, the focus is on his mistakes, but he is rusty and not playing games.

“The $64million question is do you play a centre-half in the position, when he is not match fit?’

“I thought there were times when he stepped in and his distribution was also good, at a time when England moved the ball well.”

Fellow pundit Stuart Pearce added: “I think the kid [Harry Maguire] has got character.

“He has been under the microscope a fair bit for the last calendar year, potentially, I don’t know how long, I am not a social media buff.

“Still, he puts himself out there, and he keeps going, and he does not go under.

“He has an injury late in the game, and he is at the halfway line going through a German player. Not to let his teammates down.

“Sometimes, they are the individuals you want to go to battle with.”

Despite their struggles in recent matches, Southgate is determined to stick to his principles as England plot success at the World Cup in November.

“I don’t think the system was responsible for any of the goals,” Southgate said. “I think that’s clear.

“We were a bit naive on the counter attack for the second. The first and the third are individual errors. In the end, what pleased me was the threat we looked playing in that system.

“Look, people are going to have an opinion but I think it’s the best way for us.

“I’ve got to accept there’s going to be a huge amount of noise. There has been around individual selections, team selections.

“But if I’m going to be wishy-washy, change my mind, not stick to what I think is right and gives us the best chance of winning, then it’s pointless me doing it.

“The players are committed to it. They know the more we play it, the more comfortable it will be and the different tactical problems that opponents pose you start to get more familiar with.

“I think there were some positive signs across the two games with it.”