Italy legend Fabio Cannavaro has revealed the one thing that Manchester United and England defender Harry Maguire has missing from his game.
Cannavaro, who was capped 136 times by the Azzurri and won the World Cup in 2006, believes Maguire has got all the defensive attributes required. But may just “lack a nasty streak” to be considered one of the best defenders in the modern era.
Maguire was a towering figure at the back for England at Euro 2020. Maguire made five appearances at the finals after missing the first two games through injury. And while the former Sheffield United man was on the field the Three Lions conceded just twice.
He also made UEFA’s official Team of the Tournament. However, he has had indifferent start to the season at Old Trafford.
Like England skipper Harry Kane, Maguire has not looked up to speed in the Premier League and he missed three weeks of action following a calf injury he picked up in September.
Maguire has made a number of mistakes and he was recently blasted by Roy Keane for his over zealous celebration after scoring for England against Albania.
Maguire cupped his hand to his ear – an action former United captain Keane labelled “embarrassing”.
Cannavaro, 48, is fan of Maguire’s and his England team-mate John Stones. But thinks they both miss the ruthlessness of Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini.
“Stones and Maguire have shown interesting things in recent years. They can both play football, defend and fear no one,” he told The Sun.
“They are good individually and with the rest of the backline. The pair are points of reference for Manchester City and Man United — and undoubtedly the two best English defenders.
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‘Defenders win matches’
“Then the going gets tough, they take responsibility and are not afraid of trying new things.
“But Chiellini still embodies the spirit of the Italian defender and that level of concentration needed to stop a striker in a difficult moment.
“Maguire and Stones play a totally different type of football and may lack a nasty streak at times. Which Giorgio has.
“Good players like Maguire will always be worth a lot. And we should not be astonished when top clubs invest that amount on talented players,’ he added.
“In Italy, we say that great strikers sell tickets but great defenders win matches.
“Players nowadays rightly cost and earn more money than before because of the finances around the game — and players are the main actors.”
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