Plenty is being said about England’s defence for the World Cup - with little of it complimentary.
At the heart of it lies Harry Maguire, current scapegoat for the failings of a team which has won only one major trophy and that was 56 years ago.
The selection of Manchester United’s captain in the squad does not even seem to divide opinion. It is more about people blindly disagreeing on just how awful he really is.
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Well, he is going to Qatar whether you like it or not. Get used to it. And he will play.
To be honest, the form of his centre half who was named in the Euro 2020 team of the tournament is the least of coach Gareth Southgate’s issues.
When Southgate lands in the desert with his players next Tuesday and the Arabian dust settles on his selection, the manager will have to take a long, hard look around and work some magic.
Maguire is fit, ready to play and fiercely determined to do himself and his country proud to the best of his ability against the world’s best teams.
That much can’t be said for other areas of the team where Southgate will need a lot of luck and inspired man-management to get the best out of a squad that will arrive in the Gulf hanging by a thread in some areas.
Maguire and John Stones will be the cornerstone of the defence and there are no worries on that front. But for Premier League players leaving behind an extraordinarily busy domestic schedule to go and play international football in 30 plus degrees in winter is a whole new ball game.
Injury to key players and the mentally fatiguing nature of our game means England go to the World Cup in a fragile state and that Maguire is going to be more important than many might want to admit.
Being out of the Manchester United side for a month after his admittedly nightmare performance against Germany in September means he is rested if nothing else.
Only yesterday Tottenham boss Antonio Conte admitted he will be handing over striker and England skipper Harry Kane to Southgate in a ‘very, very tired’ condition.
That sounds like the kind of long-term draining that shattered players feel at the end of a long season. Where they need a full week or two off just to recharge.
England play Iran in their first group game in nine days’ time and Kane will be spearheading the forward line and leading the team as talisman and captain. In defence, the injuries which are likely to have been affected by a condensed fixture list at home have taken their toll.
England’s first choice right back Reece James will be nursing a serious knee injury at home, his Chelsea and England team-mate Ben Chilwell is recovering from a hamstring which ripped while chasing for a ball in a hectic Champions League game.
In his absence Southgate has only Luke Shaw as a dedicated left-back. If he goes down then right-footed Kieran Trippier will take up position as a stand-in.
With James out of the running, Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold, who has been equally as shaky as Maguire, is the only fully fit right back.
Kyle Walker is unlikely to be ready to play until the last game of the group stage.
When it comes to how well they are playing, does anybody fill you with hope of bringing ‘it’ home?
Maguire is back in the Manchester United team now. Raheem Sterling is playing for Chelsea yet has scored one goal in his last 11 games.
Southgate even says he will have a quiet word with the forward about this problem.
Phil Foden? Does wonders for Manchester City and can turn a game. But as of yet is waiting to do the same for his country.
West Ham’s Declan Rice is playing well but below what he is capable of in a struggling team right now.
With the exception of Jude Bellingham, captain of Borussia Dortmund at the age of 19 and perhaps Jordan Pickford of Everton, there isn’t an England player going on that plane who isn’t coming with baggage.
Maguire missed eight weeks prior to Euro 2020 with injury then combined with Stones to the effect that they conceded two goals in open play en route to the final.
He wasn’t even picked for the disastrous 4-0 home defeat by Hungary in England’s last game, coming on only as a late sub when Stones was sent off.
Maguire will be turning out for England, there is no debate about that and could prove to be the steadying force that the country needs right now.
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