Gabby Agbonlahor caught in fiery on-air debate with West Ham United fan over Harry Maguire
Gabby Agbonlahor has been caught in a fiery on-air debate with a West Ham fan over defender Harry Maguire.
Speaking on talkSPORT on 14 September, the pundit jumped to the defence of the England international after Hammers supporter Daniel said he was “bang average”.
Agbonlahor added that he doesn’t see the problem in Gareth Southgate playing the 30-year-old, who was heavily linked with a move to the Irons from Manchester United over the summer, and accused the fan of being obsessed.
“What is your obsession with Harry Maguire, have you got a personal relationship with him?” the West Ham fan asked.
“I haven’t, not that I know of,” replied Agbonlahor.
Daniel then said: “You see what no one else sees and that is an average footballer at best. He plays against mediocre teams and you’re saying ‘oh, an amazing performance, all these sheep’. Come on Gabby, let’s be serious here.”
“So you don’t think in his international career, Harry Maguire has done well for England?” the pundit asked.
“Not at all, he’s played 50 caps and he’s still bang average,” said the supporter. “He doesn’t get in the Man United squad and he’s playing bin men teams.”
A confused Agbonlahor then responded by saying: “But why are you so obsessed with Harry Maguire and the problem with him starting? If he’s doing a job for England, got to the semi-finals, got to the final of the Euros. In these five qualifiers, we’ve conceded two goals, so I don’t see what the problem is.”
Never-ending
The debate around Maguire seems to be never-ending, but it’s actually more split than the fan seems to suggest in his disagreement with Agbonlahor.
While the defender has been great for England in the past, some of his recent performances haven’t been good enough and that has called into question whether he should still be a starter.
He is definitely not an average player, but all the talk around him clearly hasn’t helped his confidence and it’s unlikely to improve any time soon given that he isn’t going to get much game time for Man United.
In reality, Maguire should have pushed through the move to West Ham over the summer as that would have provided him with more game time and the chance to prove he can still cut it at the elite level.
But the more he doesn’t play at Old Trafford, the less sharp he’s going to become and the more his selection is going to be questioned by people ahead of the European Championships at the end of the season.
In other West Ham news, a journalist has shared how one signing could be made after the Hammers’ recent actions.