Even for a high-profile international footballer, sometimes mum knows best.
In September 2023, when, by his own admission, Manchester United defender Harry Maguire was at his lowest ebb, as he was abused and mocked during an England appearance against Scotland (“I came on, played really well, then scored an own goal”), his mum Zoe took to social media.
She called the treatment of her son “disgraceful and unacceptable”.
“I didn’t want her to, but she just said, ‘I’m doing it! I’m not listening to you!'” Maguire said, smiling, as he spoke at length about his career so far and hopes for the future to journalists at the club’s training camp in Maynooth, 20 miles outside Dublin.
“I think it probably does affect your family a little bit more in those moments. They’ve seen what we’re going through and how tough it is.
“That was probably the lowest point, but it’s part of the journey.
“I wouldn’t change where I’ve been and what I’ve been through. It’s definitely made me stronger and got me to where I am today.”
It seems unfair to focus on negatives.
Maguire, 33, feels he has “performed really well” in six out of his seven seasons at Old Trafford.
“I still believe, even at my age, I’m arguably one of the best defenders in the world in both boxes,” he said. “I don’t think that’s in question really; that I can be really effective later on in games, whether you’re holding on to a lead or trying to chase a game.”
Yet the openness and the honesty with which he assessed his more difficult moments made it an obvious area to probe, 24 hours after it had been confirmed Maguire had signed a new deal that will give him an eighth campaign at the club, and potentially a ninth.
After all, this is someone who had the captaincy taken off him by then-manager Erik ten Hag and the club were prepared to sell to West Ham a couple of months before that Scotland game.
“Obviously your first emotion is anger and disappointment, that’s natural,” he said of the captaincy call.
“But I always thought unless you are one of the superstars and a world, world class player, you have ups and downs and things that you have to deal with. That’s why you see so many players have two or three years at the top, drop off, go to a different country and you don’t hear too much about them again.
“Wayne Rooney was here, one of the best players to ever play for this club, and he got so much pelters at times when he wasn’t doing too well. I always looked to the experience with players like Wayne and David Beckham and how they overcame it.
“I just kept my head down. I have great self-belief, more importantly, that I’m a top player. That’s what helps me when things are tough.”
Clearly, strength of mind is a positive character trait.
Maguire accepts it has been bumpy at times.
He did not go as far as to say he benefited from having the captaincy taken away but did admit “the form came back” after it happened. “I believe the form would have come back whether I was captain or not,” he added.
However, he concedes not everyone would have the mental strength to navigate their way through his pathway.
“Yes probably,” he said, when asked if it would have broken most players.
“I think there’ll be a lot who want to just close the book, go elsewhere and restart their career. I think it’s probably broken them a little bit earlier. It got to a point with the mocking and the abuse – if you want to call it abuse – there was only one way it could go.”
