“He’s actually one of the bravest players I know” – Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink defends Manchester United star despite criticism

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has defended Manchester United star Harry Maguire amid criticism from pundits and fans. He believes the Englishman is always ready to give his best in matches and should be lauded for his bravery in every game.

The England assistant coach said that Maguire was always ready to take responsibility on the pitch and wanted to do the extra work for the team. He was delighted with the defender getting the Player Of The Match award in United's 2-1 win against Sheffield United on October 21.

Hasselbaink told Sky Sports:

"I must say it's a pleasure to work with him. The boy is always ready to work. He's always ready to give his all and never lets us down. You know, I knew today what kind of performance you were going to get of him. You know, honest performance [and] he does extra; wants to do extra work."

Hasselbaink lauded Maguire's bravery and reckons that the criticism he's received has been unfair as he said:

"He's one actually is one of the bravest players I know because he always takes the ball and he always takes his responsibility. You know, as Jamie said, players make mistakes, but he's not shying away from them."

He added:

"How people treat sometimes footballer and especially him, it's not right. It's not right and I'm happy that he had a really good performance today and won the man of the match and he deserves it."

Harry Maguire has defended his position at Manchester United and claimed that he was not the problem at the club. He pointed at the win percentage when he was on the pitch of over 93% and called for more game time under Erik ten Hag.

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Manchester United legend heaps praise on Harry Maguire

Rio Ferdinand was also singing praise of Harry Maguire on his podcast this week. The Manchester United legend argued that the former Leicester City star was making mistakes at club level but is now bringing his national team form to Old Trafford.

Speaking on Vibe With Five, Ferdinand claimed Maguire was slowly becoming his best version again and said:

"Even though his win record was good when his gametime was limited, there were moments in those appearances where you would go 'wow he is off it'. Silly fouls, or out of position or cumbersome play etc where regardless of the result you would say he looked off the pace. The last game he looked like himself from England shirt so long may that continue."

Manchester United face Manchester City at home next in the Premier League before taking on Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup next week. But, before they shift their focus to those games, they take on FC Copenhagen in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, October 24.