Solskjaer Reveals Why Maguire Was Named The Captain vs Brighton

When Manchester United stepped on the pitch on Sunday to face off against Brighton and Hove Albion, the Old Trafford crowd was fully behind their team.

They had seen the Red Devils comfortably win 3-0 over Partizan just a few days prior and even though the 1-0 loss to AFC Bournemouth still haunted the outfit, confidence was at an all-time high.

Sure enough, the home side secured a 3-1 win over the Seagulls with goals from Andreas Pereira and Marcus Rashford as well as an own-goal from Devy Propper.

The attacking dynamic during the fixture was much lauded by the fans and many are hoping for this streak of consistency to remain intact following the two-week long international beak as well.

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Incidentally, the fixture did deviate from consistency in one regard.

Harry Maguire was named the club’s captain for the game, ahead of David De Gea. At the start of the season, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had openly stated that Ashley Young would be donning the captain’s armband during his time on the pitch and in his absence, the Spanish goalkeeper would fulfill the duty.

However, now the Norwegian gaffer has defended his decision to name Maguire as the captain by stating: “Harry is captain material, so is David. David’s been here and done it many, many times, but Harry’s come in and been excellent in the dressing room and on the pitch and that was decision. But he can become long-term one.”

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United have lacked a consistent long-term captain for a while now, with not that many leader figures existing in the rather youthful lineups that have been fielded so far this campaign.

Scott McTominay’s antics against Chelsea recently did inspire many fans to call for him to be named as the club’s captain.

Who will be United’s next long-term captain in the seasons to come?