Martin Keown hits out at ‘disrespectful’ Harry Maguire criticism as Arsenal legend offers advice to under-fire Manchester United and England star

Arsenal legend Martin Keown says the criticism of Harry Maguire has been ‘disrespectful’ and has offered some advice for the Manchester United and England man.

United have endured a frustrating season and find themselves facing an uphill challenge to secure a top four finish in the Premier League, while have already been knocked out of the FA Cup and Champions League.

While clearly a team effort, Maguire has faced significant criticism as club captain, with reports doubting his credentials as skipper amid claims of unrest in Ralf Rangnick’s squad.

But, discussing the criticism that he’s faced, Arsenal Invincible Keown believes that the negative feeling is starting to be felt by the defender on a personal level.

Speaking on White and Jordan, Keown said: “I’m not really comfortable with the amount of criticism that he gets and if I was in his camp, or he was my lad, I’d be asking him to toughen up and tell a number of these former players where to go really.

“I feel that the criticism that’s come his way has affected him.

“There’s no doubt that in that midweek game in the Champions League he didn’t seem like the same player, particularly in possession.

“There’s a weakness when people are running at him and there’s a feeling in the stadium that Manchester United fans don’t really want him there. It’s difficult for him.”

“If he doesn’t have a midfield in front that wants to protect, he’s in trouble He gets isolated far too much.

“I’m saying how I would deal with it. If I was hearing this amount of criticism then I’d tell them where to go.”

That criticism hasn’t deterred Gareth Southgate from naming the player in his squad for England’s upcoming friendlies against Switzerland and the Ivory Coast, explaining that dropping him never crossed his mind.

Southgate explained: His club situation is very complicated, both in terms of the changes of manager, the style of play and the relationship with the fans. There’s a lot that he’s having to cope with as captain.

“I don’t see any way in which we’d progress at this point by not including Harry Maguire in a squad when six months ago he was a key part of us getting to a semi-final and being in the team of the tournament.

“He’s never played poorly for us in an England shirt, in fact, he’s played exceptionally well for us.

“That’s why it’s so difficult when you pick a squad because you can’t just go on club form.

“There’s some positional competition in that and there’s a level that you know players are capable of.

“If there’s difficulties over a prolonged period of time then you’ve got to think a bit differently about that, but I’ve no reason to believe that if we get Harry in the right structure in our team and get the normal performances that we get from him, then he’ll be a very important player for us leading into Qatar and beyond.”