I once had a friend, who supports Manchester United, tell me “if you don’t love Fergie, you don’t love football” in reference to legendary Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

As this person I was talking to is a big Manchester United supporter, one would normally know that a United fan would automatically agree with that statement. The work that Ferguson did with Manchester United was incredible from the 1999 Treble team to being the first manager to make Cristiano Ronaldo a star. Multiple Premier League Championships and Champions League wins. It is no wonder why Sir Alex Ferguson was knighted. The Scottish legend managed some of the greatest Premier League teams in history and worked with some of the greatest players to have played the game of football.

However, many Manchester City fans wouldn’t really think to appreciate what Sir Alex did for football. For most of Sir Alex’s reign at United, City lived in the shadow of United. There was nothing more frustrating for City fans than to watch their team in the Championship and League one, while their neighbors were one of the top teams in Europe. In fact, many City fans wouldn’t dare to compare Pep Guardiola to SAF.

I write this because I appreciate what Sir Alex has done for the game of football and respect him, despite being a Manchester City supporter myself. I’m a very opinionated person when it comes to football. Some of my opinions are based off the fact that I support Manchester City, so they may be a little bit more biased. Others are based off my love for the game in general.

Normally, I see a lot of football related opinions shared and debated on on the subsection of Twitter called Football Twitter. Sometimes, people can be ridiculed for certain opinions they have. Maybe because said opinion is very unpopular in the football community, or maybe it is because someone is complimenting a player on a rival team. The fact of the matter is that most of the Football Twitter community is either in their teens or university student age. People may be set off by certain opinions, and sometimes, it can be hard to express an opinion you may have, because of the ridicule you could possibly get from fellow fans.

Before I get into my personal experience, let me say that as a sports fan in general, sometimes you have to look at said sport as a whole. To appreciate a sport, one should appreciate more than just their own team. It is recognizing the legends of the game and giving them respect that makes someone a fan of the game in general. It is easy to recognize that Messi and Ronaldo are currently the two best players in the game and are going to retire being considered the two best players to have ever played it. It is hard not to agree with that statement. Most people believe one is better than the other. Not many people take a step back from the debate of who is better and realize that we, as the football community, are more lucky than we realize to be witnessing both of these players at the same time. Typically, it would be hardest for a Barcelona or Real Madrid fan to accept how good the other’s biggest legend is. There is so much bias. Both of these players have contributed so much to the game that they both need to be appreciated, regardless of what team you support or which one of them you like better. Personally, I prefer Messi, but I respect Ronaldo too and can see why people may prefer him over Messi.

In football, there are so many footballers and managers that should be appreciated by the community as a whole. No one has to necessarily like every one of the legends to have graced the game, but there should that common respect for someone that has made a huge impact on the game. Currently, the biggest managerial debate is whether Jurgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola is the better manager. As a Manchester City fan, I automatically would say Pep, because of what he has done in his time at City. He transformed a squad that had an average age of over 30, brought in some fresh young blood, and has dominated English football by rewriting the record books and turning players such as Kevin De Bruyne and Aymeric Laporte into World Class stars. However, as a football fan, it’s hard not to respect what Klopp has done with Liverpool. He made Liverpool’s front line to one of the best in the world with Salah, Firmino, and Mane, and transformed their defense from one of the worst to arguably the best in the world after signing centreback Virgil van Dijk. Two seasons in a row Klopp led them to a Champions League final and won one of them. The truth is, Klopp and Guardiola were the masters behind one of the best Premier League title races that went all the way to Championship Sunday. Each manager has their strengths and weaknesses, but currently, they are the two best in the world and as the fan of the game, one should recognize that.

Sometimes as a fan of the game, you can’t help but really admire a player that plays on your rival club. Maybe you liked that player before they joined said club. Maybe not. There is just something about said player that you really admire, and it’s admiration for the same kinds of reasons you would have for your club’s players. Maybe it’s their style of play. Maybe it’s their character. Maybe it’s their passion. Perhaps it’s all three. The truth is, you like that player a lot, and in some cases, you’re afraid to express admiration for that player, because they play for a rival club.

For me, my favorite player outside of my beloved Manchester City plays for the team we share the city with. In fact, he’s the captain of Manchester United. Many like to call him Slabhead, but some just like to call him by his actual name, Harry Maguire.

I can’t even remember how many times I’ve told someone that I am a Harry Maguire fan and their reaction has been: “why the hell do you like Slabhead?”

Well, it’s time for my personal story.

As an American, I was able to cheer for whoever I wanted during the 2018 Men’s World Cup, as the USMNT could not qualify. I did not necessarily have a set team. I was going to be happy if any of the Manchester City players won it all, especially David Silva because of all he had endured during the 17/18 season with the possibility of his son dying from being born very premature.

England had been doing particularly well, and I had appreciated that considering Raheem Sterling, John Stones, Kyle Walker, and Fabian Delph (now on Everton) were City players representing England for the tournament. I think one of my top City moments of the World Cup, besides Kevin De Bruyne’s screamer against Brazil, was when John Stones scored a brace against Panama.

In fact, John Stones played so well at the World Cup, one of the Manchester City news sites picked him as the best City player at the tournament. Below is City Watch’s reasoning for ranking John Stones as City’s best player at the World Cup.

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Did you notice something? If you read the second to last sentence, you know what I am talking about. Stones played really well alongside Harry Maguire, and I took notice to that as I watched England play. I was really happy to see Stones have a great tournament, considering his luck with injuries, and playing alongside Harry Maguire is what caught my eye. I thought to myself, “hey, this Maguire guy is pretty good too. He seems to have been playing well with both Stones and Walker.” Then there was that famous goal against Sweden in the quarterfinals that made the nickname “Slabhead” famous.

It was that moment that changed my plans of getting a Belgium Kevin De Bruyne shirt to getting an England Harry Maguire shirt. Trust me, it was hard to find, so I ended up having to get it personalized.

So I started following Maguire on social media and watched more videos of him just to get a glimpse of who this guy that’s now famous for a meme based on a picture with his fiance and for that goal against Sweden.

Here’s the meme, but I made it about myself.

So carrying on, I looked into Harry Maguire just to see if I would like him for more than the player he was at the World Cup and the fact that he played really well with a couple of City defenders. Turns out, I would end up really liking his character. I found him, in my opinion, to be humble and seemingly nice guy. He seemed like he was easy to interview as he didn’t seem stuck up, but he’s also seemed to appreciate where he came from and not forget about where he started, and that’s why I think of him as a humble person. He just seemed to be like the type of guy that has his teammates backs and always showed love to those he cares about. Now can I guess everything off social media and interviews? No. I don’t personally know the real story of Harry Maguire, but from what I’ve seen online and on tv, there’s really no reason for me not to like the guy. He doesn’t seem to have a bad bone in his body.

When it comes to his time at Leicester City, there’s one goal I really love and appreciate. You’ll probably remember it very well if you support Leicester, Manchester City, or Liverpool.

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As a Manchester City fan, how could you not love this goal? It was my favorite goal of the 18/19 season that was not scored by a Manchester City player. Partially, it was because it was scored by Harry Maguire, and at that point, I was already a big fan of him, but I also loved that it helped Manchester City in the title race, because that game ended in a draw.

So let’s fast forward a bit to the summer transfer window. Vincent Kompany had just left Manchester City, and we were in need of a new centreback, because we only had Aymeric Laporte, John Stones, and Nicolas Otamendi. At that point, Harry Maguire was our number one target for a centreback.

In that point of time, I was one of the only City fans that wanted him. I remembered what he was like at the World Cup and thought to myself, “he would be a great addition to City.” I knew he would pair well with John Stones during times Aymeric Laporte would not start, and he would also play with Kyle Walker. Having experience with Pep’s defenders before, I don’t think it would have taken much time for Maguire to adjust.

Unfortunately, I was ridiculed by many City fans over my advocacy for Maguire to join City. The price was too high for him, because his price tag was higher than Van Dijk’s and the only reason he was worth so much was because he’s English. Well, I see why people had an issue, but we’re Manchester City. We could have easily spent the 80 million pounds on him, but unfortunately, we weren’t the only ones in need of a new centreback.

Manchester United arguably needed him more than City did, and they beat City to him. Did I cry over it? Yes. My boyfriend was gonna buy me a Harry Maguire shirt if he joined City, and I was very much ready for that.

It really sucked seeing one of my favorite players go to United. I wanted him at City so bad, and I knew it was gonna bite City in the ass that we didn’t buy him, especially since we did not spend on a centreback at all.

So the season rolls around and Aymeric Laporte gets injured. Bad news, because he’s easily our best defender. John Stones also had frequent injuries throughout the season. So guess what happened? City had plenty of issues at the back and fell way behind Liverpool in the title race. While City were still ahead of United, United’s defense had improved and kept more clean sheets.

Also, Manchester United captain Ashley Young left in the middle of the season, and who was his successor? That’s right, Harry Maguire! Guess what another issue at City was? The lack of leadership since Vincent Kompany had left.

I’ve had a few City fans that may or may not have ridiculed me for my admiration of Maguire tell me, “you were right about Slabhead.”

Of course I was right, but that is besides the point of this story I am telling.

My parents, who are also big sports fans including City, told me that I can’t love a player less because of the team that they are on. They grew up as Chicago Blackhawks hockey fans and have always respected rival players like Gordie Howe, Maurice “the Rocket” Richard, and Bobby Orr, because they loved the game of hockey and not just the Blackhawks. When it comes to football, my mum really loved Sir Alex and what he did for football and has loved Harry Kane, despite being a City fan. Not only have they seen Manchester City play, but they went to a Sheffield Wednesday game just to a famous football stadium and to appreciate football culture and history. Their last holiday included tours of FC Porto’s stadium and Camp Nou.

My point is that you should not be ashamed of admiring someone if they play for your club’s rival, and you shouldn’t let others ridicule you for it. Be a fan of the game and admire whoever the hell you want. Others may not agree with your opinion, but that is them. Appreciate the game of football in whatever way that you want. I’m not telling whoever reads this to go and support multiple teams, because I believe that we should pick a club and stick to it, but I’m saying that you should admire the players that you admire without people trying to tell you otherwise. What fun is it to enjoy football when you’re overly biased towards your team? The reason some football fans get along with fans of other clubs is because we all appreciate the game of football for what it is and the legends that have graced the game. We’re able to share views with those supporters of other clubs and have meaningful discussions and conversations with them. Sure we don’t agree and sometimes we argue with others, but that is a part of the rivalries that come along with it.

So yes, I am a Manchester City fan that is a huge fan of Harry Maguire, and do I really care that other City fans may hate that I admire him? No. I’m not just a City supporter, but a football fan in general and I like who I like. If Harry somehow ends up reading this, well then here’s to him. It’s still a big dream of mine for him to join City one day, but that may not happen. I’m not gonna like him any less, except when he plays against City of course. I will always admire and respect him and will cheer for him if Liverpool continue to be City’s title rival and the United-Liverpool game is on and when England plays in Euros next year. Other than that, City comes first. So thank you, Harry, for helping me appreciate the game more.

I hope this was able to open a lot of eyes.