Harry Maguire might have just lost his place on the team

After two defeats in his first two Premier League matches as Manchester United manager, Erik ten Hag knew he had some work to do in order to change the situation before their next fixture, which was Liverpool. The Dutchman went ahead and decided to drop out Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Maguire off the team sheet.

This obviously surprised a lot of fans because, with that decision, the new coach was benching the team’s captain and arguably his best player. Harry Maguire’s place, was taken by Lisandro Martínez and Raphael Varane, while Cristiano Ronaldo was left out for the academy player Anthony Elanga.

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All of the adjustments worked as Manchester United beat Liverpool in one of the best performances by the team in recent years. Martínez and Varane had a great game together as the centre-back partnership and all United fans are hoping this is the start of a new defensive duo on the back like Ferdinand and Vidic back in the good old days.

According to the Man United correspondent for Daily Mirror, David McDonnel, Harry Maguire could be frozen out long-term after his teammates' performance last night. Erik ten Hag still believes in him, but he wouldn’t be playing every single week like he used to. The Daily Mirror correspondent also added that this has motivated Maguire to train harder and earn his place back.

A possible exit

It was reported last week that Chelsea made an inquiry for the 29-year-old England defender. However, Manchester United immediately told them that Harry Maguire was not for sale at any price this summer. After being dropped to the bench, he might ask to be sold in order to play regularly before the World Cup in November.