Eyebrows were raised when Erik Ten Hag decided to keep the captain's armband on Harry Maguire's arm and justifiably so. After an excellent summer in 2021 in which he played a major role in England's run to the European Championship final, Maguire was unable to continue his fine performances at club level.
In fact, his form dropped off a cliff. The centre-back was largely dreadful throughout the last campaign, cutting a dejected figure with a mistake never too far away.
What made it even more frustrating is that everyone knows there's a very capable defender in there. He proved as much throughout Euro 2020, but he was simply unable to find it again for United with his confidence plummeting further and further with every passing game. READ MORE: United could unleash a new midfield in Europa League clash vs Sheriff Unsurprisingly, when the season came to a close and a new era was ushered in, with the arrival of Ten Hag, there were loud calls for him to drop the captaincy.
Some of those calls were malicious but most were practical, with the sense being that if the heavy burden of being skipper was taken off Maguire's shoulders he would instead be able to focus his energy on getting back to his best.