{"id":496450,"date":"2026-03-26T13:30:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T13:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/496450\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T13:30:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T13:30:14","slug":"harry-maguire-on-tuchels-england-phone-call-carricks-man-utd-revival-and-his-problem-with-ruben-amorim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/496450\/","title":{"rendered":"Harry Maguire on Tuchel\u2019s England phone call, Carrick\u2019s Man Utd revival and his problem with Ruben Amorim"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Harry Maguire<\/a> was stepping onto a late afternoon flight to Bournemouth with his Manchester United<\/a> teammates when a WhatsApp message pinged his phone. It was the England manager, Thomas Tuchel<\/a>, asking if they could talk that evening. <\/p>\n

Butterflies fluttered. Maguire hadn\u2019t played for England for nearly two years, since he appeared in a Nations League game against Ireland in 2024. He had never played for Tuchel and there had been very little contact from the manager since he took the job last January. \u201cI knew if I missed this camp, I don\u2019t think I would have been back in the England setup,\u201d Maguire admits.<\/p>\n

The defender has endured a mixed season. He struggled for form and fitness under Ruben Amorim<\/a> and felt inhibited by the manager\u2019s beloved back-three formation. But a run of games in Michael Carrick<\/a>\u2019s transformed United side has kindled faint hopes of playing in a third World Cup, at the age of 33. <\/p>\n

Sitting on the plane, Maguire turned to fellow England prospect Kobbie Mainoo. \u201cI asked Kobbie if he\u2019d got a text as well and he said, \u2018yeah\u2019,\u201d Maguire smiles. That offered some reassurance and, two hours later, Tuchel rang to confirm he was finally back in the England squad for World Cup warm-up games<\/a> against Uruguay and Japan at Wembley.<\/p>\n

Maguire rang around his family to share the news. His mum cried, though she was on holiday in Spain at the time and he suggests the tears may have been helped along by a few Sangrias. \u201cIt felt a bit like my first call-up,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve played 60-odd games for England and been to three major tournaments, but when you\u2019re playing every game, you don\u2019t want to take it for granted, but you get comfortable with the setup. And then when it\u2019s taken away from you all of a sudden, it hurts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"HarryHarry Maguire in training for England at St George’s Park (The FA via Getty)<\/p>\n

Maguire is speaking in a quiet room at England\u2019s second home, St George\u2019s Park, in Burton-upon-Trent, back where he feels he belongs. He spent seven years as a mainstay under Gareth Southgate, first on the left side of a back-three and later in a pairing with John Stones. Over the past two years, he had to get used to watching England as a fan again, taking his career full circle, back to when he was a Hull City player, travelling around France with friends watching Euro 2016 from the stands.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt did hurt [to watch England] but I still wanted them to win,\u201d he says. \u201cI have a lot of friends here. There are times when you feel like you should be in the squad and then that probably hurts a little bit more, but the last three camps, I wasn\u2019t fit, I wasn\u2019t playing every game for Manchester United<\/a>, I was in and out, I was playing three games and getting injured. When you don\u2019t build up that rhythm, you don\u2019t really have an excuse.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt hurt more when I watched them in the final against Spain, losing that game [Euro 2024 final].\u201d<\/p>\n

Away from England, Maguire focused on performing for his club. He enjoyed working with Amorim but felt the central role in a back three limited his best attributes, consigned to be a sweeper when he wanted to roam and charge and challenge opponents physically. His freedom to carry the ball upfield was clipped, and it all added to the narrative that he was a fading force.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re playing in a back-five and you\u2019re playing that middle one, automatically people think you\u2019re a little bit older and can\u2019t move as much. I\u2019ve always said I much prefer playing in a back four. I feel like I can play more aggressive, play more on the front foot and I feel like that\u2019s a big part of my game.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"HarryHarry Maguire\u2019s club form has put him back in the picture for England (Owen Humphreys\/PA)<\/p>\n

Amorim will be a great manager<\/a>, Maguire insists. It just didn\u2019t click. \u201cI really like Ruben, I think he\u2019s got great ideas. Those ideas just didn\u2019t work at Manchester United<\/a>. I do believe he\u2019ll go on and have an amazing career. At his next club he\u2019ll probably go and win many, many football matches.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carrick\u2019s reign has been transformational<\/a>. Maguire has enjoyed the freedom of a back-four as United have climbed the table to third, in a strong position to qualify for next season\u2019s Champions League with seven games to go. Surely the players want him to stay beyond the summer?<\/p>\n

\u201cListen, Carrick coming in, he\u2019s been amazing. He speaks really, really well. He\u2019s tactically very, very good. He\u2019s brought in some amazing staff, [such as] Steve Holland. [But] it\u2019s not up to us. I think we\u2019ve got to finish the season strong, and then I think he should go right into the mix with the other candidates.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a big summer. We know that for Manchester United. We need bodies in to help the squad. It\u2019s going to be a big recruitment in the management department, and I\u2019m sure the hierarchy will get it right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maguire has stayed fit and found form in recent weeks, ironically right up until Tuchel\u2019s phone call. The next night, he scored a goal at Bournemouth, but was sent off as United settled for a draw \u2013 \u201ca harsh\u201d red card<\/a>, he says.<\/p>\n

\"MaguireMaguire is competing for a place on the plane to North America (The FA via Getty)<\/p>\n

A one-game suspension means he won\u2019t play for United again until 18 April at the earliest, when they travel to Chelsea. That time off will at least offer a window to speak to the club about his future, with his contract expiring at the end of the season. Maguire wants to stay, and the way he talks suggests that something might almost be agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat that agreement is, I\u2019m sure you\u2019ll find out over the next few weeks,\u201d he says. \u201cI think it\u2019ll get sorted sooner rather than later, whether I stay or leave. I love this club, but it\u2019s got to be right for myself, it\u2019s got to be right for the club as well. I don\u2019t want to be staying on a sentimental value. I want to be staying because I want to be there and the club want me to drive the club forward still, and they feel like I\u2019ve got a big part to play in it. <\/p>\n

\u201c[I want to be] playing games and helping the team on and off the pitch. I want to be important to the club. So we need to sit down and speak \u2013 and I\u2019ve got a long time off now with the red card.\u201d<\/p>\n

Only three months ago, Maguire\u2019s international and club careers appeared to be in their winter days. Suddenly, they are in full bloom again. He never gave up hope of travelling to North America to experience one more World Cup as a player, rather than a fan, when summer comes around. \u201cI kept it free, just in case.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":496451,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[218,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-496450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-football","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=496450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496450\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/496451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=496450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=496450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=496450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}