Maguire is expected to start in a back three against Italy in the Nations League game, which is England’s penultimate game before the World Cup. The decision could pile more pressure on Southgate, who was booed and booed by fans at the end of the shock 4-0 drubbing by Hungary in England’s last game in June. “I’m the England manager and it’s judged purely on the results and the moment,” Southgate said. “I have been in football for more than 30 years and I know how it works with the fans. The most important thing is that the players are together, the staff and I’m supported by the people I work with and the rest… I’m my own biggest critic, I’m someone who will always review everything carefully no matter how well they’ve gone, and you Don’t expect to lose 4-0 at home and not be criticized.” Asked if he was putting his reputation on the line by standing by Maguire, Southgate replied: “Whatever reputation I have, I’m putting it there. I think, look, you always have to back up your judgment and we feel like he’s an important player.” Maguire has lost his place in United’s squad since the arrival of Erik ten Hag as manager, having left following the embarrassing 4-0 defeat at Brentford more than a month ago. Since then, Maguire has started just once, in a 1-0 defeat to Real Sociedad in the Europa League, before losing his place again for the trip to FC Sheriff, in which he played a minute as a substitute. With John Stones ruled out for the trip to Italy, Maguire could line up in a back three, unpopular with a group of fans and critics, alongside the recalled Eric Dier and Kyle Walker. On Maguire’s lack of action at United, Southgate said: “Look, obviously, it’s not an ideal situation. You want your best players to play regularly so that they are physically fit and mentally fit. But he is an important player for us. I think it’s important to support our best players. “He understands he’s at a big club, a big transfer fee and captain of the club, so I think that’s why the spotlight is more on him. But he is focused on training well every day and getting back into the team. The squad we picked, there’s a fair number of players you could argue we could have left out, but I think we wanted to keep that band together and keep them involved. But they also know that, for some of them, that they have to play more regularly because now we’re only a few weeks into pre-season so, physically, if they had a couple of 90 minutes, that’s fine. . Another seven or eight weeks, that starts to get more complicated.” Jordan Pickford’s injury may offer Nick Pope a chance in goal, while Southgate confirmed Jordan Henderson will not be involved against Italy, meaning Jude Bellingham will start alongside Declan Rice in midfield. Harry Kane will start up front and the England captain revealed he has hired a Spanish physio, who he flies in once a month, to help him with ankle injuries that have troubled him in the past. “I did my hamstring in January 2020 against Southampton away and since then I’ve found this new physio and we’ve been working together for almost three years now,” Kane said. “He’s been really great to me, we’ve worked hours and hours over the three years, we’ve built up a really good relationship and I’ve seen changes in my body in terms of how my ankles were before and now after. I’m in a completely different place. So, it’s really gratifying.” Kane did not want to name the doctor, but added: “I wasn’t stressed, but I was disappointed. Whenever you’re trying to build a good season, you’re in good shape and you keep getting the same kind of injuries – I kept getting ankle injuries and that led to a bigger hamstring injury. So I think as I get older and mature, you learn more about your body and how your body adapts to things, when you can push and when you shouldn’t push too hard. So you learn as you go and I’ve definitely learned a lot over the last few years about my body and myself. That helped me to play consistently at the level I have.”
