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Harry Maguire will report for England duty next week re-established as a first-choice defender for Manchester United.<\/p>\n
When Gareth Southgate\u2019s squad met up in October Maguire had made only two starts for Erik ten Hag\u2019s side all season but he has been ever-present in the starting XI since, usually in a partnership with veteran Jonny Evans as Raphael Varane and Victor Lindelof have had to bide their time.<\/p>\n
Maguire and Evans is not a pairing many would have seen coming in the summer, when Maguire was being linked with a move away from Old Trafford and Evans was a free agent after leaving relegated Leicester.<\/p>\n
An injury to Evans will see a change made when Luton visit on Saturday, but Ten Hag said Maguire was keeping former Real Madrid defender Varane, a key part of last season\u2019s success, out on merit.<\/p>\n
\u201cHarry Maguire is doing very well at the moment, and I am very happy with that,\u201d he said. \u201cAs I always said, Harry Maguire can do the job \u2014 and now he is showing he can do the job.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year Harry didn\u2019t play a lot, so I was very happy with Rapha\u2019s performances. I have always been happy with his performance. But in this moment, Harry is playing very well and there is internal competition.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ten Hag sees Maguire and Varane as being in direct competition for the right side of central defence. Although Maguire has spent much of his career on the left, Ten Hag does not like the balance of his side with the 30-year-old there.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are moments in certain games where they can play together and they have already proven they can do it,\u201d he said. \u201cBut the build-up is not that fluid when one of them is playing from the left.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last season, the partnership Varane formed with Lisandro Martinez, protected by Casemiro, helped United win the Carabao Cup and return to the Champions League. But with Martinez and Casemiro currently out injured along with Luke Shaw, and Varane out of favour, there is a different look at present.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe injuries don\u2019t help us,\u201d Ten Hag said. \u201cSo often you have to swap the back four and then you don\u2019t get the routine. In such moments, it is so important to have routines.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a new keeper (Andre Onana) coming in and every time you form a new back four and they know the rules and principles, but the routines are not the same.<\/p>\n
\u201cCommunication is so important, but that is all split-second decisions. You need that cooperation and you need it 100 per cent because when it doesn\u2019t work, then you concede goals at this level.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wednesday\u2019s dramatic 4-3 Champions League defeat in Copenhagen made it nine defeats from 17 games in all competitions for United this season, piling the pressure on Ten Hag amid on the ongoing wait for Sir Jim Ratcliffe\u2019s purchase of a minority stake in the club to be completed.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing has changed (in our approach),\u201d Ten Hag added. \u201cWe stay in the same issues because we are not in the best moment, but I think I see that we are going forward, like at Fulham (a 1-0 win last weekend), and I thought Copenhagen was a very good game and we have to build on that.<\/p>\n
\u201cAndre Onana came new in and in the last games has stepped up, Rasmus Hojlund is a new striker and he came in and is stepping up. That is good stuff.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had some good midfield balance in the last two games, and hopefully we can keep that without new injuries in such departments and then I think we can really improve and find our success this season.\u201d<\/p>\n