Raphael Varane: What’s going on?
What does the Frenchman’s future hold?
I am a MASSIVE fan of this player. I have been since his relatively early days at Madrid. He reminded me so much of the original Rolls Royce defender and MUFC legend, Rio Ferdinand (happy belated birthday to him).
We all now know Varane to be the Rolls Royce centre-back due to his play style and the attributes he possesses. Speed, ability with the ball at his feet, passing, reading of the game, strength, heading and on top of all that, leadership, experience and a winning mentality, something that we’ve been short of at United in the past decade.
However, in recent weeks, things have not been so dandy at Old Trafford for the Frenchman.
And to that I ask, WTF?!
Ever since his return from his latest injury, Varane has been in and out of the side, mainly as a substitute. I know there’s been games like the defeat to Newcastle where he was ill but in general, in the past month or so, Raphael has been available.
However, Erik ten Hag had other ideas when it comes to his selection.
The manager decided to drop Varane for “tactical” reasons in arguably one of the heardest games of the campaign, the Manchester Derby. This is where these issues began. It also came out of nowhere.
ten Hag’s reasoning behind this tactical dropping was: “When you play City they will press and play with Rapha [on the right] and Maguire on the left, that can cause problems and you end up only playing long balls. He [Maguire] is, for me, better on the right, especially against teams that press high.”
This makes no sense. No matter what you think, Varane is better than any of our other centre-backs in every way possible in either of the right or left centre-back positions. This reasoning said to me that I was dropping him for Maguire but I just wanted to give a reason that said I wasn’t.
Tell me you’re dropping him without telling me you’re dropping him.
Even if ten Hag prefers Maguire on the right, that still doesn’t explain Evans on the left. Varane is more than good enough to play as the left-sided centre-back which he has shown on multiple occasions throughout his career. Rapha also possesses the ability to play with his left foot pretty well.
I still can’t believe ten Hag dropped him for Maguire and Evans. It would’ve made sense if Varane was injured or coming back from injury but this, 🤦♂️. And against City as well.
This would not be the last time the Frenchman was left on the bench.
I understand that he was ill for last week’s awful performance and exit from the Carabao Cup, but he was available for the win at Fulham, yet ten Hag decided to go with Maguire and Evans once more.
This is starting to create an unnecessary problem IMO. People are now starting to think there might be a beef between the player and manager. And for what?
When looking at things from Varane’s perspective, I too would be frustrated (which I’m sure he is) to be dropped for Maguire and Evans. While Varane has had his injury issues and been part of teams who’ve performed terribly and been hammered, so has everyone else.
I also think that he has still played relatively well even in those diabolical team displays. Just because the team doesn’t perform well doesn’t mean every player has been shit.
So why is he the only one to see him lose his place? There have been so many players who have been worse yet still play.
I feel that something moves in the shadows unseen.
This dropping of the 4x Champions League winner makes even less sense when Varane can actually play that modern, ten Hag ball we all know the manager wants to play.
Out of all our CBs, between him and Martinez, there are none better who can play out from the back and do all that the manager desires.
Even if ten Hag wants to keep things simple and not play ten Hag ball, Varane is still capable of that. This is part of the reason I think as to why Maguire and Evans have looked pretty good in recent weeks. They are playing in a style of football that suits them as it is simple and pragmatic.
We saw that last season, this was the way United were playing. Very much defend and counter with keeping things tight at the back. Varane was in that defense and was a major part of our success at the back and season overall.
Saudi rumors
All of this having to park on the bench has brought rumors of the potential departure of the Frenchman.
However, at the start of the season, Raphael sort of made his intentions clear that he wants to stay at United. He posted this picture on his Instagram of him kissing the badge with a heart and swords as the caption.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CwSC7vmsSDn/
This caused many to believe that his future was at Old Trafford. There was speculation at the start of the season that he would be open to the switch to Saudi Arabia but after this post, it seemed that those rumors were put to bed.
Nevertheless, those Saudi reports have emerged once more given his current situation at he club.
Unable to manage big players?
This is something else that has been called into question when it comes to Erik ten Hag’s management.
Currently, there are few players bigger (if any) at Man Utd than Varane in terms of stature, experience and ability with only his ex-Madrid compadre Casemiro being able to boast those attributes.
All others pale in comparison to these two.
After the way it ended with Cristiano Ronaldo, many actually backed the manager on the decision to leave the GOAT out of his side more often than not which eventually led to that interview. This was because Erik felt as though Ronaldo didn’t fit in his side and preferred to use the likes of Rashford and Martial ahead of CR7.
I too got behind ten Hag with that choice (although it was bloody hard) because even though I love Ronaldo, I love United more and know that this manager is the future and Ronaldo isn’t. If Erik feels that Cristiano wasn’t good enough to play his style, then so be it.
But now, is the same thing happening with Varane?
While Ronaldo is very professional when it comes to his football, we all know that he can be quite ‘loud’ when it comes to voicing his true opinions whether in the dressing room or outside it. I could sort of see why there could be issues with him.
With Varane on the other hand, this guy is as professional and yet not so loud. He seems to be the type of character that keeps to himself hardly ever causing any uproar. So for there to potentially be a fallout between the manager and this player, something must be wrong.
So can Erik ten Hag manage big players?
He’s never had to at any other point in his managerial career as his Ajax sides were made up of youngsters who eventually became stars.
Whereas at United, big stars and egos are what he got.
Final Thoughts
Just play Varane. He’s better than all our other defenders and one of our best players due to all of those attributes listed above.
He’s injuries are the only real issue he has but when fit, this guy must play. He makes such a difference in the team.
I do believe that with the way it’s going, Raphael Varane will soon say goodbye to Old Trafford and move on to pastures new. I will be very sad at that considering his quality and the fact that we’re keeping players who are nowhere near his level.
Surely he has to start tonight, right?
What do you think is the matter with Raphael Varane and Erik ten Hag?
#ERIKTENHAG #VARANE #MUFC #GGMU #GLAZERSOUT
