Rio Ferdinand has called on Harry Maguire to be "mentally strong" in the wake of yet another high-profile gaffe - this time for England during their 3-3 draw with Germany at Wembley.
It has been a miserable start to the season for Maguire, having lost his place in the Manchester United side under Erik ten Hag despite being club captain. While he still has the backing of Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate, errors like the one on Monday night will do little to help his cause.
It was a thrilling encounter under the Wembley arch, but Maguire will want to forget the opening exchanges of the second half in a hurry. The defender was all at sea as he passed the ball straight to Jamal Musiala on the edge of the area before proceeding to bring him down and concede a penalty after a brief VAR review.
Ilkay Gundogan stepped up and made no mistake, calmly slotting the ball into the bottom right-corner of Nick Pope's goal to put Germany in front. Maguire was involved in the visitors' second, giving the ball away yet again before Kai Havertz unleashed an unstoppable strike to double his sides advantage.
Many fans and pundits alike have questioned Maguire's place in the squad, let alone the fact he has started both games, especially when the likes of Fikayo Tomori, Benjamin White and Marc Guehi are either not making matchday squads or being selected full-stop.
With that in mind, Maguire's mistakes have only put him under even more scrutiny. Ferdinand has conceded his concerns over the fact that with the defender now out of the United side, he has very little time to play his way back into form ahead of the World Cup in November.
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"I feel for Harry, every mistake is being punished and scrutinised," wrote the United legend on Twitter after Maguire gave away the penalty. "It comes with the territory though. "He needs to be strong mentally to get through this! Playing with no games at this level always leaves you open."
It was a difficult evening for Maguire from the very start, with the defender's name jeered by his own fans ahead of kick-off. This is not the first time a small section of England fans have turned on Maguire inside the stadium, with his name also subject to boos ahead of the Three Lions' friendly against Ivory Coast back in March.
Southgate, however, was notably positive come the full-time whistle after the honours ended even against Germany, even praising the same crowd that jeered Maguire. "Tonight, in the end, a couple of errors have cost us the goals but I’ll focus on the fact they played with tremendous spirit and showed a belief that we haven’t shown in the last few games. I thought the crowd saw that and rose to that."
