Maguire advocates for VAR after horror penalty call against Arsenal in Sunday’s FA Cup third round against Arsenal.
Maguire advocates for VAR throughout the FA Cup after its absence was the talking point in Manchester United’s shootout win over Arsenal.
He used the contentious penalty that Arsenal won against him and his Manchester United club on Sunday to support his claim that video assisted referees are crucial to the current game.
In the 69th minute of the FA Cup third-round match, with the score at 1-1 and United down to 10 men following Diogo Dalot’s red card, Maguire was taken aback when referee Andrew Madley gave him a penalty. With an arm out at worst, the central defender had held his position against Kai Havertz, the striker for Arsenal, only to watch his opponent fall to the ground.
VAR is not in use in the early rounds of the competition – it comes in from the fifth round onwards. “It’s a tough one,” Maguire said, when asked if it was the worst penalty decision he had seen. “At the time when he gave it … my initial instinct was that it will be all right, VAR will turn it over and then I clicked on in my head that VAR could not intervene. So that’s when my head went a little bit.
“He [Madley] probably looks back … he knows he got it wrong. That’s why we have VAR because in the big moments, we need them correct and it’s a tough gig if we don’t have help for them [referees].”
Martin Ødegaard, the captain of Arsenal, attempted a subsequent penalty kick, but Altay Bayindir stopped it. United then proceeded on penalties, with Joshua Zirkzee scoring the game-winning goal to complete an almost flawless redemptive arc that Maguire could undoubtedly identify with.
When Zirkzee was brought on in the 33rd minute of the team’s 2-0 loss to Newcastle on December 30, the Old Trafford crowd booed him off the pitch. The striker had failed to do anything good in what had been a dreadful collective performance up until that moment.
Maguire understands what it’s like to have his own fans make fun of him. A portion of the Old Trafford crowd applauded his substitution near the end of United’s Champions League elimination match against Atletico Madrid in March 2022.
It was among the lowest points of the most challenging season of Maguire’s career, which would be followed by the 2022–2023 season in which he fell to the bottom of United’s defensive hierarchy.
The player has gained a lot of respect for his perseverance following a difficult start to the previous campaign; but, on January 3, United activated the one-year option in his contract, tying him down until the summer of 2026.
“I’ve had a time for this club where things are tough and everyone seems to come against you,” Maguire advocates. “But one thing’s for sure is that the United fans stick with you. When times were tough they stuck with me.
“That game against Newcastle … he [Zirkzee] was the unfortunate one to get subbed off. You could have subbed any of the 11 players off at that moment and they would have all got booed – we all deserved to get booed because we were awful in the first 30 minutes.
“It had nothing to do really with Josh. He probably knows that and he probably felt it at the time, even though it was disappointing for him. It’s a great ending that he scores the winning penalty and the lads had full faith in him that he would do.”
Maguire was ill with the flu last week and missed training on Friday but he produced a nine out of 10 performance against Arsenal and believes he has worked his way back to his best.
“I think my first couple of years at United were probably the best part of my career,” he said. “I’m getting back to that level. I think I was also at that level last season so it’s been 18 months now where I’d say I’ve been playing consistently well for this club again.
“There’s no doubt I had a tough year in my third season [in 2021-22]. I knew I needed to find something to stay at this club because it demands high standards and I feel like I’ve found something.
“Ruben said to me that when it came across to him that I had an option [for a contract extension], it was a no-brainer for him. It’s given me confidence and belief that they want me at the club and part of this project.”