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Manchester United defender Harry Maguire was booed by England fans ahead of their 3-0 win over Cote d'Ivoire on 29 March in a friendly.
After the match, the defender garnered a lot of support from the likes of England manager Gareth Southgate and striker Harry Kane.
Watford manager Roy Hodgson was recently asked to comment on the situation. Ahead of Watford's game against Liverpool at Anfield in the Premier League on April 2, Hodgson said in a press conference (via Manchester Evening News):
"I don’t understand it. I don’t understand where the impetus for that comes from. I don’t know what the fans are reading, or what they are being encouraged to do, but it strikes me as being virtually beyond any comprehension."
He added:
“Someone who has represented his country and being chosen to represent his country and for his country has always done his best and has always played well, who was last year one of the heroes of the country – I don’t understand how suddenly he deserves to be booed."
Hodgson speculated that maybe United fans were behind Maguire's booing. The Watford manager said:
“But maybe you will tell me something that has been going on with Harry Maguire that I have missed because I don’t follow every single thing that is being said or written, so maybe I am being naive."
He added:
"But if having seen nothing to warrant any criticism of Maguire, other than the fact that the Manchester United fans are unhappy that their team is losing, in which case I would have to tell all fans to grow up because if you want to support footbal,l sometimes your team is going to win and sometimes they are going to lose.”
Harry Maguire's struggles at Manchester United
Harry Maguire joined Manchester United from Leicester City for a record fee of £80 million in 2019. While he was supposed to be a rock in the United backline, that hasn't been the case so far.
He has often struggled in 138 appearances for the club across competitions. His errors have been more prominent and frequent this season. They have directly led to United dropping points against Leicester City and Burnley.
According to Mirror, Maguire's future with United is also in doubt post this season. They could sign Borussia Dortmund defender Manuel Akanji as his replacement this summer.
