The Man Utd centre-back was selected as part of Southgate’s
first post-World Cup squad after they were knocked out by France at the
quarter-final stage in Qatar in December.
Ten Hag has preferred a centre-back partnership of Raphael
Varane and Lisandro Martinez for most of the season with left-back Luke Shaw
even playing in front of Maguire at times.
The former Sheffield United centre-back has made just 12
starts in all competitions after starting 28 Premier League matches in the
2021/22 season.
Despite that, Southgate kept faith with Maguire at the World
Cup with the Man Utd defender playing well in his five appearances in Qatar.
But Parker reckons Southgate has “disrespected” Ten Hag
after the Man Utd boss “made it clear that he is not good enough”.
Parker told BonusCodeBets: “I think that Gareth Southgate
has disrespected Erik ten Hag by picking Harry Maguire to the national team. It
is very disrespectful and a completely wrong decision.
“Erik ten Hag has made it clear that he is not good enough
for Man United, so how can he be good enough to play for the national team? It
makes no sense.
“He hasn’t played regularly for a long time now and he is
struggling defensively every time he gets the opportunity to play.”
Maguire has 53 caps for England but Parker claims playing
the centre-back “will go wrong” for Southgate “at some point”.
Parker added: “Martinez was clearly telling him in the
previous game that he was defending too deep and I don’t get how he can’t
understand how Erik ten Hag wants to play.
“But no, he shouldn’t have been picked for the national
team. Yeah, he has done okay for England but at some point it will go wrong.
You need games behind you and you need to know that it’s justified that you are
on the national team.”
Southgate has led England to the World Cup semi-finals in
2018, the final of the European Championships in 2021 and to the quarter-finals
of the World Cup last year.
On whether Euro 2024 represents his last chance to win
silverware as England boss, Southgate said: “Well that depends if we win! I
think you have to be careful as a player not to assume when you’re younger that
this might not be your last chance as well.
“Of course you’re always going to think you’re going to have
other opportunities but injury, form, new players coming through in your
position, you can never take that for granted.
“Yes, clearly the older ones know the timescale is quite
clear. But everybody else has to be mindful of that as well.”
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