Comments come after the defender scored a late winner at Anfield
Former Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel has urged Ruben Amorim to replace Bruno Fernandes as club captain, saying Harry Maguire is a better fit.
The defender scored the winner at Anfield on Sunday to ensure his side left with their first victory at their rivals’ home ground in almost a decade.
The victory also marked the first time United had won consecutive league games under their Portuguese coach, following their victory over Sunderland before the international break. Bryan Mbeumo opened the scoring before Cody Gakpo equalised for Liverpool, but Maguire’s late header from a Fernandes cross secured all three points.
“I can’t praise him enough,” said Schmeichel. “I want Harry Maguire to play every game. I want him to be the captain. He’s got all the attributes of a good Manchester United leader.
“He’s not the quickest, I’ll agree with that, and he’s got some trouble on the turn, but Man Utd have had defenders like that before. But what they always had next to them were quick players and that’s what we don’t have at the moment.
“I think he should be the number one defender and he can organise everybody. He talks to everybody and gives them confidence, and I think that is important. Somebody who stands out all the time and takes responsibility, because I think that has been a problem in this team.”
Maguire was United captain under Ole Gunnar Solsjaer in 2020, five months after arriving at the club from Leicester for a record £80m fee. He was later stripped of the captaincy three years later under Erik ten Hag, following a poor run of form that threw his future at Old Trafford into doubt. Fernandes was then handed the armband and has held it since.
Schmeichel said: “I think Bruno is a fantastic player but sometimes I don’t like his body language. I know he talks really well to all the players but sometimes he has reactions that can be mistaken for something else.
“Harry doesn’t have that, he has that calm head. I was saying during the game: Look at Harry, look at how he is telling everyone where to go and helping players.
“And there are a lot of players in this team that are so low on confidence that they need help. And then Harry plays and I’m so happy he scored that goal.”
