Harry Maguire has already given Alex Ferguson Man Utd answer he "wanted to hear"
Former Manchester United defender Gary Pallister understands Harry Maguire's willingness to stay and fight for his place at the club, having won over Sir Alex Ferguson during a tough time of his own.
Maguire lost his starting place under Erik ten Hag last season, before losing the captain's armband this summer. West Ham were interested in a summer move for the England centre-back, but he opted to stay at Old Trafford and now has the challenge of balancing a lack of club minutes with a desire to keep his place for England amid criticism which has upset international boss Gareth Southgate.
Pallister, like Maguire, had some tough moments after his own big-money move to Old Trafford during the Alex Ferguson era. Speaking to Mirror Football courtesy of 888sport, the multiple Premier League champion recalls the moment he told Fergie what the manager wanted to hear with an approach not too far from that taken by Maguire.
"I remember an occasion where I'd had a not particularly good game," says Pallister "He [Ferguson] brought me in and said 'listen, I'm thinking about leaving you out next game, I think the pressure's building up on you a little bit too much and you might benefit from sitting on the sidelines for a couple of games'.
"I was like 'well, no. I don't want to do that, I feel as though I need to...' and he went 'right, that's all I wanted to hear'. We went on from there and he never dropped me, I think, in all the time I played for United.
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"I think that was maybe what he was looking for, he didn't want me to duck out and say 'you're right, I might benefit from the rest'. Once I said I want to go back in and play, I think he was quite happy I had that kind of attitude."
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Harry Maguire has played just once for Man Utd this season (AP)
Pallister was also at pains to point out his own struggles at Old Trafford came much earlier in his career than Maguire's. Indeed, he pointed to the 30-year-old's impressive form for club and country before the wheels started to come off.
"I don't think anybody had any concerns about Harry Maguire for the first couple of years that he was at the club," Pallister says. "I think it was after the Euros, he'd just been named in the team of the tournament playing for England. He came back, he'd hardly had any rest, and started the season off fine, then he got an injury and I kind of felt he was rushed back a little bit.
"He didn't look his sharp self after that and I think, ever since then, it seems to have been a bit of a struggle for him. The crowd have got on his back and it's spread through to the England support, and he's found it tough - he's lost the captaincy, he's lost his place, and he's had a decision to make in the summer.
Gary Pallister recovered after a shaky start at Manchester United (Popperfoto via Getty Images)
"He's chosen not to move to West Ham and to play for his place at United, which is commendable. I can certainly understand that, because once you leave there [United] you're only probably going on a downward spiral. But Harry Maguire's not a bad centre-back, we've seen enough of him over the years to know that he's a proper player, and he's got to play for his place."
United take on Brighton this weekend, hoping to protect an unbeaten home record which stretches back to last season's game against the same opponents. Ten Hag may be required to call on Maguire again after giving him minutes from the bench last time out, depending on whether Lisandro Martinez is fully fit after suffering an injury against Arsenal.
Pallister is wary of the pressure being heaped onto Maguire and the fear of that impacting his performances. However, he recognises the 30-year-old is "long enough in the tooth" to know how to deal witb the pressure.
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"Manchester United can be a lonely place when you're not at your confident best, and maybe the crowd are concerned or a bit nervous when he's playing in games, and that can certainly feed across to players," he adds. " This is two years into Harry's career here at United that the problems have come, so it's a little bit different, but I feel for anybody that walks out in front of 76,000 people and maybe doesn't have the trust of the support.
"It's hard to bounce back from that. I was very fortunate, I had a terrific manager and some terrific leaders in the dressing room and they kind of helped me through it."
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