Raphaël Varane | Match Discussion Thread 2023/24

SuperRash

SuperRash

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Last season was one of his better seasons injury wise, even though he still did pick up the odd injury. A fantastic defender but we really need him to stay fit all season.

Not going away on International duty will allow his body to get some rest in those breaks.
 
No doubt he will continue to get away with schoolboy errors that some United defenders don't(no names needed), but it's VARANE innit!
 
I worry about him but he’s retired from internationals now so will get rest periods but with champions league games we are going to need him to be playing every 3-4 days most weeks.
 
Reportedly out for around six weeks. The injury list goes on.

He just cannot be relied upon to not get injured. Brilliant when he does play but what’s the point if he’s got another injury around the corner.
 
Hardly a surprise with this guy.

The guy can’t stay fit and it’s why he needs replacing ASAP
 
Looks like the six weeks report was a little far off but will miss a couple of weeks. That blow will be softened slightly by the international break so he may only miss a couple of games.
 
It's still a huge red flag for me as it's a continuation of the problems he's had since arriving.

We aren't even in to the tough part of the season yet where the games come every 3 games. It's never 1 injury that keeps him out he plays 4-5 games then gets an injury that means he misses 4-5 games then he's back for 4-5 games then off 4-5 games it just feels like a never ending cycle.

He's even spoken out that the demands on players are so high now that there's greater and greater risk of injury. These aren't impact injuries they are almost always muscle injuries which shows that he can't push his body to the limits required in the modern game.

As I said on another thread we probably have to put up with it this season but it can't carry on they need to be looking for a replacement to come in next summer and be the long term partner for Martinez.
 
Can't believe it's another medium/ long term injury. Brilliant when fit and available but we need a more reliable replacement
 
Varane. Just healthy enough to ensure Maguire doesn’t play and just crooked enough to ensure Maguire doesn’t leave.

You’d have to think it’s one more season of this and then off to the Saudi Pro League. Hopefully.
 
Interesting that the manager said he was left out for tactical reasons vs City with Evans starting ahead of him. He was asked about it again in his press conference after the game and basically said he didn't think Varane/Maguire could pass through the City press as a pairing and that's why he put Evans in.

I do wonder if he's not going to be around much longer.
 
He's slagging off to many players in the press. Or not slagging, just giving too much info.
 
He's being asked why players aren't being picked and he's giving a reason. He was asked about Varane/Reguilon as they were both on the bench and he said it was a tactical decision to select Evans/Lindelof to start the game.

It's tricky for him because no matter what answer he gives it could be twisted. If he says they're not fit then it'll be reported as him slagging them off and the players might not take to kindly to that either. If he just says it was a tactical decision then they can't really moan about it.

As I said I think this is probably his last season with us I think he'll be moving on in the summer.
 
He said none of them were good enough to play like Ajax last week
 
Mr C said:
He said none of them were good enough to play like Ajax last week
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I think that was blown out of proportion a little bit. He just said the players at Ajax were different players, so couldn’t play like that here. Plus it’s a different league here than there.
 
he said the players dictate how you play, I have to play more direct football here
 
I don’t think it should be considered a dig at the players though. Some players can adapt to an Ajax system and some cannot. Plus the majority of the Ajax players learn their DNA from the youth teams.
 
I read that as the players at united are not technical enough and we have to play more direct. If he didn't mean that then he needs to shut up. Because it seems he is misunderstood quite frequently
 
I think what we are seeing is Ten Hag is a lot more pragmatic than people thought he was. He isn't dripping in Ajax DNA and those who have read up on his Ajax side will see he went against the Ajax traditions early on and was hammered for it before it eventually paid off.

He inherited a squad that was built for counter attacking football so he's having to build a system that gets the best out of that as he can't change 25 players over night. It is very hard to see what the end plan is going to look like as currently it just looks an absolute mess with all the injuries it's pointless even trying to judge progress.

I think what him and Ole learned very quickly was the moment you try to change the way this group of players play things unravel quickly. In his final season Ole tried to play out from the back more and it went very wrong very quickly, Ten Hag in his second season has done similar and the team has declined at an alarming rate.

Ole never had the midfielders or the goalkeeper to play out from the back effectively, Ten Hag has tried to address that with his signings but the disruption of the injuries means he hasn't really been able to really bed that in and see true results.
 
Feels like he’s checked out. Even when he came onto the pitch as a sub he didn’t look that enthusiastic.

Absolute hospital pass in the lead up to their goal.
 
Poor when he came on a player of his experience should be a calming influence in these situations tonight he did not he crumbled.
 
He was poor. Didn't look fit though, which is weird, why put him on the bench

Maybe he did want that summer move, and we blocked it like Maguire's move
 
SuperRash said:
Feels like he’s checked out. Even when he came onto the pitch as a sub he didn’t look that enthusiastic.

Absolute hospital pass in the lead up to their goal.
Click to expand...
Appears to play like he just does not care.
 
Yeah, there is, I say he didn't look fit because I caught him doing some odd stretches mid game.

As for Saudi, there were lots of links. So maybe we blocked it

Whatever it is, something is up
 
I believe Varane said he didn't want to move to Saudi in the summer it wasn't the club that blocked it.

I think he is fit but coming on early in a game isn't easy when you've had no time to do a proper warm up and the game was very stop start with the medical incident plus VAR checks in that first half.

As for his performance I think it's been this way all season to be honest his level has dropped not sure what you can put it down to but to me he looks well off his best.

I don't think he's ever been amazing on the ball but he's always been tidy enough now he's starting to look nervy on the ball.

The partnership with Maguire doesn't work we've got 2 years of evidence to see that when they play together it's a car crash but sometimes you've got to put them together.

The 4th goal was just stupidity he took a poor touch and was under pressure just smash it away sometimes in football you have to do that you can't always play out.
 
Outstanding. Absolute rock. Almost like he has not played recently to ensure he was fit for this game.
 
Still a brilliant defender and the best we’ve got but his problem has been staying fit.

Repelled everything today that was thrown at the team. I thought the whole defence was pretty accomplished today.
 
Mr C said:
He's been fit a lot this season, just lust his place
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Not just basing it on this season though. He has missed a few games this season through injury but true it’s been more down to losing his place.

Another injury is just around the corner with him though which is not what you need from one of your first choice centre backs.
 
How many games Shaw missed? Casemiro?AWB? Mount? Lindelof? malacia?Martinez?Eriksen?
It gets overblown with Varane where others get no mention. It's just an easy thing to target him with
 
Mr C said:
How many games Shaw missed? Casemiro?AWB? Mount? Lindelof? malacia?Martinez?Eriksen?
It gets overblown with Varane where others get no mention. It's just an easy thing to target him with
Click to expand...
We are talking about Varane though and not other players. His injury record speaks for itself, nothing is being overblown whatsoever. He’s not someone you can rely on to be fit for a whole season consistently.

Obviously now he’s retired from International football that could change as he gets more breaks but facts are facts, he gets injured often.
 

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