CHRIS WHEELER: Maguire still looked immobile in United's win

It says much about Harry Maguire's form this season that Ralf Rangnick has only been interim manager for 14 games and he has already had to give the Manchester United skipper two public votes of confidence.

'He is our captain and I don't see any reason to change that,' Rangnick reiterated on Monday while admitting that Maguire had some 'weaker moments' in the previous two games against Southampton and Burnley.

Those moments have not been lost on Maguire's critics who continue to question the wisdom of paying Leicester £80million for the England centre-back in 2019 and then handing him the armband.

Even more so when United's two biggest rivals, Liverpool and Manchester City, have got it so right with Virgil van Dijk and Ruben Dias.

In Maguire's defence, he didn't set the transfer fee or ask for the captaincy. But both command a level of expectation, and it's fair to say the Yorkshireman has often come up short.

When fans in the Stretford End held up a banner with the words 'Standards' and the images of former United captains Bryan Robson, Roy Keane and Eric Cantona before the FA Cup tie against Aston Villa in January, it was hard not to draw comparisons with the modern-day United and their less charismatic leader.

That was one of three games Maguire missed due to an injury he picked up against Burnley in late December as Victor Lindelof established a promising partnership with Raphael Varane.

Indeed, had Lindelof not taken his family back to Sweden after their house was burgled, Maguire could have been waiting significantly longer to regain his place.

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