England boss Gareth Southgate has been “very disrespectful” to Man Utd manager Erik ten Hag by picking Harry Maguire, according to former Red Devils defender Paul Parker.
The Man Utd centre-back was selected as part of Southgate’s first post-World Cup squad after they were knocked out by France at the quarter-final stage in Qatar in December.
Ten Hag has preferred a centre-back partnership of Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez for most of the season with left-back Luke Shaw even playing in front of Maguire at times.
The former Sheffield United centre-back has made just 12 starts in all competitions after starting 28 Premier League matches in the 2021/22 season.
Despite that, Southgate kept faith with Maguire at the World Cup with the Man Utd defender playing well in his five appearances in Qatar.
But Parker reckons Southgate has “disrespected” Ten Hag after the Man Utd boss “made it clear that he is not good enough”.
Parker told BonusCodeBets: “I think that Gareth Southgate has disrespected Erik ten Hag by picking Harry Maguire to the national team. It is very disrespectful and a completely wrong decision.
“Erik ten Hag has made it clear that he is not good enough for Man United, so how can he be good enough to play for the national team? It makes no sense.
“He hasn’t played regularly for a long time now and he is struggling defensively every time he gets the opportunity to play.”
Maguire has 53 caps for England but Parker claims playing the centre-back “will go wrong” for Southgate “at some point”.
Parker added: “Martinez was clearly telling him in the previous game that he was defending too deep and I don’t get how he can’t understand how Erik ten Hag wants to play.
“But no, he shouldn’t have been picked for the national team. Yeah, he has done okay for England but at some point it will go wrong. You need games behind you and you need to know that it’s justified that you are on the national team.”
Southgate has led England to the World Cup semi-finals in 2018, the final of the European Championships in 2021 and to the quarter-finals of the World Cup last year.
On whether Euro 2024 represents his last chance to win silverware as England boss, Southgate said: “Well that depends if we win! I think you have to be careful as a player not to assume when you’re younger that this might not be your last chance as well.
“Of course you’re always going to think you’re going to have other opportunities but injury, form, new players coming through in your position, you can never take that for granted.
“Yes, clearly the older ones know the timescale is quite clear. But everybody else has to be mindful of that as well.”
Source: uk.news.yahoo.com
