Manchester United captain Harry Maguire has offered his backing to England manager Gareth Southgate, insisting he remains confident that they can achieve something at the World Cup in Qatar later this year despite Tuesday evening's embarrassing 4-0 home defeat to Hungary.
After a defeat in Budapest and back-to-back draws against Germany and Italy in their first three outings of the recent crop of UEFA Nations League fixtures, Southgate's side had aspirations of getting back to winning ways and putting on a show for a sell-out crowd at Wolves' Molineux. However, they produced another toothless performance, suffering their worst home defeat since 1928 in the process.
The defeat, unsurprisingly, attracted a chorus of boos and widespread criticism after full-time, with the defeat to Hungary marking England's fourth successive game without scoring from open play. Their only goal over the course of the four Nations League matches came via the route of a Harry Kane penalty against Germany.
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A tally of two points from a possible 12 has significantly cranked up the pressure on boss Southgate, less than 12 months after he guided the Three Lions to their very first European Championship final. But despite the criticism the former Middlesbrough manager is currently facing, he has been offered a wealth of support by United centre-back Maguire, who stepped off the bench late on against Hungary.
"Gareth is the most successful England manager since Sir Alf Ramsey in 1966," Maguire told The Sun. "We all can't wait to work with him and the backroom team again at the World Cup.
"His managerial record is as good as anyone currently out there in international football. There’s no reason why we can't do really well and our goal is to improve on our previous tournaments and make the country proud."
The manner of the performance against Hungary was not something England's supporters have been used to seeing over the last few years. The Three Lions have made significant progress since Southgate was awarded the job on a full-time basis in November 2016, and Maguire believes everyone within the camp is looking forward to a much-needed break, ahead of aiming to come back stronger for the next crop of international fixtures in September.
The United defender added: "We deserved more from the first three games but against Hungary on Tuesday wasn't acceptable. We all know that.
"Everyone needs a break now and a recharge. The spirit in the camp has been great despite the results."
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