Roy Keane Has Been Blamed For Harry Maguire Getting Booed By England Fans

Roy Keane has been blamed for Harry Maguire being booed by his own supporters on Tuesday.

Prior to England's 3-0 win over Ivory Coast at Wembley, where Maguire played the full 90 minutes, the Manchester United skipper was booed by fans.

He was then subjected to jeers during the game, which prompted the likes of Jordan Henderson, Harry Kane and Declan Rice to defend their teammate on social media.

England boss Gareth Southgate branded the booing "an absolute joke" in a furious post-match interview.

And Danny Mills, who played 19 times for England, believes Keane's scathing criticism of Maguire has contributed to fans reacting negatively to the centre-back.

"Roy Keane has massive influence, unbelievable," Mills said on talkSPORT's Kick Off show, as per the Daily Mail.

"Roy Keane says it, it's gospel. I think when Roy Keane speaks we all sit up and listen. I think he's got huge gravitas in the game, for what he's achieved, for what he's done and everything he's gone through and achieved in the game.

'You do have to listen but he can be particularly vicious at times.

'No matter how he's played, if Roy Keane says he's had an absolute shocker and it's disgraceful and he's had a stinker we all go "well, he has done", even without watching the game ourselves and going through it.

'We listen because it's Roy Keane and he's spoken so without seeing it as ourselves we take his opinion as gospel. Maybe we shouldn't do that."

Former Manchester United skipper Keane has developed a reputation for not pulling any punches during his punditry and quite happily calling out players.

Maguire in particular has been on the receiving end of a fair few lashings after a disappointing period.

And recently Keane laid into Southgate for his defence of Maguire, claiming that the Three Lions boss "made it a bigger story than what it is" by addressing it in his interview.

"I think Gareth has made it a bigger story than what it is," Keane said on ITV.

"Every player gets booed. There’s going to be idiots at football matches. England fans have got a lot of idiots.

"And if they’re going to boo Harry Maguire, I think Gareth could have easily said that it’s no big deal. He actually played well, just focus on that."

Maguire has not commented on the whistles as such and appears to be ignoring the criticism. On Twitter, he wrote, "Enjoyable week playing for my country".

Featured Image Credit: Image: PA

Topics: Roy Keane, Manchester United, Harry Maguire, England

Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

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