Harry Maguire expressed his despair at the number of “sweet” and “ridiculous” penalties imposed in top-flight football and called on the Premier League to pave the way by raising the threshold.
The England centre-back was on the right end of a questionable decision on Monday night when he was not penalised for a barge in the first half against North Macedonia striker Eljif Elmas in the penalty area. But England’s relief would turn into anger when Skopje’s hosts were awarded a highly questionable penalty after Rico Lewis was pulled for a foul on Bojan Miovski. Lewis won a clear header on his international debut in the senior national team, but in the process he put his hand in Miovski’s face-which was enough for the VAR to recommend the penalty.
The English goalkeeper Jordan Pickford saved Eni Bardhi’s kick, but the captain of North Macedonia converted the rebound. The Euro qualifying match ended 1-1.
Maguire described the sanction as a” terrible decision ” and said that life would become almost impossible for the defenders. “For me, the penalties of the last six months to a year or so, especially in the Premier League all over the world, really in the Champions League they are given for everything,” he said. “They are so cute. They make it so hard for the defenders to defend themselves the way they should.
“You should be able to defend. You should be able to move your arm, you should be able to move your body. You should be able to make contact, you should be able to move your hands and get there. There are far too many soft penalties being imposed at the moment.”
Like many players, Maguire can point to decisions that were against him and his team. He was probably health issue the most this season when he conceded a handball penalty in the 4-3 defeat of Manchester United in the Champions League against FC Copenhagen. Or the one who led to a penalty against United teammate Christian Eriksen in the same competition at Bayern Munich, even after the ball was passed in a tight hand. But Maguire insists his reasoning is not based solely on games he has been involved in.
“The threshold for the imposition of penalties must necessarily change,” he said. “And I think the Premier League, the biggest league in the world, has to start it. You have to come up with something, because since the starting of this season I have seen penalties in the Premier League, which are simply ridiculous for me.
“It’s not just in my club. When I look at them every weekend, I see that they are donated for handballs where I don’t know where the guys should have their arms [[or] minimal contact. It is a contact sport. So, starting with the biggest league in the world, you need to set the standard and the threshold must be slightly higher than it is at the moment.”