Fabio Cannavaro shares the one key trait lacking from Harry Maguire’s game
Fabio Cannavaro, an Italy legend, believes Harry Maguire “lacks a nasty streak.”
Maguire has struggled this season after missing three weeks due to a calf injury suffered in United’s 1-0 loss to Aston Villa in September.
Since his return last month, the 28-year-old has been chastised for several errors during United’s poor run, in which they have won just three of their last ten matches in all competitions.
The former Leicester City defender was also rebuked by Premier League legend Roy Keane for his celebration after scoring for England against Albania on Friday night, with the former Manchester United midfielder calling Maguire’s actions ’embarrassing.’
While Cannavaro acknowledges that Maguire and Manchester City’s John Stones are England’s best two center-backs, he believes they lack the malice that his Italian compatriot Giorgio Chiellini possesses.
“Stones and Maguire have shown interesting things in recent years. They can both play football, defend and fear no one,” he told The Sun.
“They are good individually and with the rest of the backline. They are points of reference for Manchester City and Man United — and undoubtedly the two best English defenders.
“When the going gets tough, they take responsibility and are not afraid of trying new things.
“But Chiellini still embodies the spirit of the Italian defender and that level of concentration needed to stop a striker in a difficult moment.
“Maguire and Stones play a totally different type of football and may lack a nasty streak at times. Which Giorgio has.”
Cannavaro was not surprised that United paid a whopping £80 million for Maguire in 2019.
“Good players like Maguire will always be worth a lot and we should not be astonished when top clubs invest that amount on talented players,” he added.
“In Italy, we say that great strikers sell tickets but great defenders win matches.
“Players nowadays rightly cost and earn more money than before because of the finances around the game — and players are the main actors.”
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Fabio Cannavaro shares the one key trait lacking from Harry Maguire’s game
