England: Fans' abuse of Harry Maguire now 'actually embarrassing', says Michail Antonio
- Published
'It's a joke' - Southgate on criticism of Maguire
Fans' abuse of Harry Maguire is now "actually embarrassing", says West Ham forward Michail Antonio.
Maguire, 30, lost his place in Manchester United's starting line-up and then the captaincy this summer, but continues to be selected for England.
After coming on for the second half of Tuesday's friendly in Scotland, he scored an own goal and was mocked by the home fans as England won 3-1.
"It's gone way too far - it's actually embarrassing," said Antonio, 33.
Speaking on the Footballers' Football Podcast, the Jamaica forward added: "I've never seen this ever in football, how one person can be absolutely destroyed any time he does anything wrong, [even when] it's not his fault and he's just involved in it."
Maguire has insisted he "can deal with banter" from fans, but Antonio says the defender's humanity is being ignored.
"People do forget that people are human and obviously this will affect them mentally. He went from being an unbelievable centre-half, I think one of the best in the Premier League when he was at Hull and Leicester, to half a man.
"He's trying to stay strong, to rebuild himself. He believes in his ability. Right now it's just not working for him.
"When I saw Gareth Southgate speak up, I was like 'well done'. It should have been brought up before. It's been a whole two years."
England manager Southgate has condemned the "ridiculous treatment" of Maguire, saying the criticism he has faced is "a joke".
His mother, Zoe Maguire-Wilkinson, said on Instagram that the abuse has been "disgraceful" and "unacceptable".
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers, who was briefly Maguire's boss at Leicester before his move to Manchester United in 2019, said the criticism of Maguire has "probably been created by his own club supporters and that has spilled out onto other supporters".
"It's sad where it was created from," he added. "I find it a real shame. He's a good guy and obviously a top-class player. He's tough, mentally strong and will prove throughout the rest of his career he's a very good player.
"I know, having worked with him, if you need someone by your side when it's tough you'd want him beside you. You have to have a resilience about you to succeed at the top level in a game with so many opinions.
"It's the world we are in. You have to ignore the noise, you have to take yourself away from that. Otherwise it becomes a challenge for you."
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