Richards and Terry have both defended Maguire
John Terry has come out in defence of Harry Maguire after the England and Manchester United defender’s controversial celebration on Friday night.
Maguire opened the scoring for the Three Lions as they cruised to a 5-0 win over Albania, but despite Harry Kane scoring a perfect hat-trick, it was Maguire who was at the centre of conversation.
As the United centre-back headed home from Reece James’ free-kick to give England the lead, he appeared to use his celebration as a way to send a message to people who have been critical of his performances at club level.
Running towards the crowd, the 28-year-old cupped his ears to the fans before knee sliding with his fingers in his ears – with many suggesting that he was doing it to signal that he was blocking out any hate directed towards him.
However, speaking after the game on ITV, Roy Keane stated that he wasn’t impressed and had strong words for the defender.
“[He] puts his hands up to his ears,” said Keane.
“He’s like ‘shutting the critics up’. I think it’s embarrassing. He’s been a disgrace the last few months for Man Utd. He thinks if he scores there, he’s going to shut his critics up. Embarrassing.”
Maguire has since come out and defended his celebration, claiming that the gesture wasn’t aimed towards anybody.
On Saturday, Keane’s fellow Sky Sports pundit Micah Richards took to Twitter to criticise ‘people’ who hit-out at players for having ‘no personality’, only to then criticise them when they actually show some character.
He said: “People: Footballers are like robots, they have no personality!
“Harry Maguire. Scores the opening goal for his country, celebrates with real passion whilst referencing those who have been criticising him.
“People: That’s embarrassing.”
People: Footballers are like robots, they have no personality!
Harry Maguire. Scores the opening goal for his country, celebrates with real passion whilst referencing those who have been criticising him.
People: That's embarrassing pic.twitter.com/T7bfC0FphK
— Micah Richards (@MicahRichards) November 13, 2021
His comments come after Gary Neville criticised United players who don’t control their social media accounts, claiming he ‘doesn’t recognise’ them after a defeat.
In response to Richards’ tweet, former Chelsea defender Terry also jumped to the defence of Maguire, simply stating: “100% Agree mate”.
100% Agree mate https://t.co/FBrBx32IQB
— John Terry (@JohnTerry26) November 13, 2021
England have all but secured their place at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, but as Poland beat Andorra, it means they will have to wait until their final group game against minnows San Marino to mathematically secure their place at next year’s tournament.
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