Gareth Southgate defends Harry Maguire England call-up, saying: 'I've great faith in him'
Harry Maguire - 'first choice' for England
Three Lions boss backs struggling Manchester United captain.
Gareth Southgate has defended his decision to call Harry Maguire into the England squad despite his recent struggles for Manchester United.
Maguire has severely struggled for Man Utd in recent weeks, leaving many to suggest his England place should be under threat as a result.
However, Maguire was named in Southgate's squad for the friendlies against Switzerland and Ivory Coast, and he appears to be the man in possession for the upcoming World Cup too.
"He's been first choice for us for the last three years, I don't see any logic in us leaving him out of a squad at this moment in time," Southgate said of Maguire.
"I'm not sure who else would be coming in to play at a higher level who we could really hang our hat on at a World Cup situation in eight games' time.
"It's not been ideal for Harry. But I've got great faith that we can get him into a structure and way of playing that we've always managed to accentuate his considerable strengths. Like all players, all players have areas where they need protecting and that's what you try to do as a coach and a manager, trying to set your team up in that way."
Southgate also stressed that both Maguire and John Stones retain his total faith as his first-choice partnership.
"We know that Stones and Maguire have performed at the highest possible level and excelled at the highest possible level and we have never had any issue with their form in an England shirt.
"You are always having to balance off what is happening at the club, but those two are outstanding and we don't have better than them in the country at this moment in time.
"The club situation I have got to separate slightly from that."
One man who failed to get the call was Maguire's Man Utd teammate Marcus Rashford, but Southgate insists the door remains open for him.
"I think Marcus is very realistic," Southgate said. "He knows he is in a situation where he has not been getting in the United team consistently and he will be searching as much as anybody to get that form back.
"We know he is desperate to do well and wants to do well and maybe we can help a little bit with that.
"I think it is important, perhaps after this camp, for me to go and sit with him and find out a bit more about what is going on.
"But also there is a reality that we are not working with him every day, so there is a limit to what that is probably going to achieve.
"I am sure everybody at United is going to be working hard towards that and of course, ultimately, there is a big responsibility for any player within that.
"I often hear that this coach or that coach has got the best out of somebody but I think the very best players play well for pretty much every coach they play for.
"Always as a player you look at yourself and you try to get things back on track first."
