He was MOTM last night. Looks a real leader and compliments Martinez really well. first name on the team sheet. Please god stay fit.
19
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 34
- Clean sheets
- 13
- Goals
- 0
- Assists
- 0
- Yellow cards
- 2
- Status
He's truly a brilliant defender. Positionally fantastic, extremely good in the air, good technical abilities, very strong and so fast when he wants to. He really does remind me of Rio, although not as silky smooth or perhaps quite as quick, but Varane is arguably more dominant in the air. The similarity is mostly highlighted by how effortless defending is. There is no panic, few sliding tackles, but he's always in the right position. Him and Martinez seem to compliment each other perfectly.
That is brilliant! Looks to have formed a great partnership already, and that team mentality at the back is so good to see - want to see the same from the forwards!
His best performance for us?
Please stay fit. Please stay fit. Please stay fit.
Remember cafe experts telling how he was shit and Ramos carried him? Yeah those guys never actually watched him play football, he was always an absolute beast of a CB and only issue is him staying fit. Him fit, is the difference between our defense being top class and shambolic.
100% this!
Yeah that was a laugh. A huge trophy haul while being a stalwart in defence yet he was reduced to championship level by some on here.
It's the twitter and tiktok highlight generation that hardly watch football. They watch videos of a tackle or goal from Ramos and he automatically carried Varane. He has always been a class CB, glad he gets the recognition now.
Reminded me of Rio last night. Made defending look effortless and wasn’t afraid to get stuck in. True leader at the back, and works really well with Martinez’s aggressiveness, which is essentially exactly what Ramos used to play like.
I love the lad
My MOTM last night
He is fantastic. Always in the right place.
I think he suffers when Maguire is his partner.
One of us
More like fiat clio, fiat scenic, fiat puma.
Great mentality as well as quality. Such a natural defender. Watching him closely marking someone is a masterclass, he makes it look so effortless. He's almost invisible until he's banging that clearance away, always in the right place.
How well we do this season surely has a lot depending on keeping this guy in one piece!
How well we do this season surely has a lot depending on keeping this guy in one piece!
There is something wrong with Maguire and I can't put my finger on what it is. The most important difference between Maguire and Varane-Martinez is that when Maguire plays the entire back four turns into 4 disjointed players, they defend on their own. But in the last games we have seen something different, Dalot is never taking care of the right alone, Varane-Martinez are never defending the center alone and Malacia is never defending the left alone.
Yesterday there was sequence where Varane picked up an attacker on the right and kept defending in an area that was Dalot's but we were never unbalanced because Dalot repositioned himself in a way that covered for Varane while the Martinez and Malacia slid to the right.
Part of that is surely ETH but I suspect that there is also better communication and understanding between these players, you can see that they are constantly talking to each others.
We all do
Love that car
Very comfortable car.
Absolutely phenomenal defender, serious case for best in the world if we're talking just defensively. I know Martinez has been getting all the praise but Varane has been even better for me and should've won POTM. MOTM in all 3 wins this season.
Slightly concerning but also great that our last 3 MotM awards should go to defenders 
Better than it going to DDG despite losing.
Better than it going to DDG despite losing.
I think you are spot on. With Maguire, it looks as if everyone defends individually. With the current set-up, they defend as a symbiotic unit. Everyone depends on each other, yes, but more importantly, they recognize that when he covers for me, I have to take his position. When Maguire covered for Shaw (which he did numerous times), Shaw would just jog about, and vice versa. There seems to be a completely culture-reboot in defense. They play for each other and together. Even DDG seems part of it. We just need that mentality instilled in our attack... (to end the post with some negativity)
Comfortable like Varane's defending - both suspect to breaking down...
Excellent, again. Should be even better with Casemiro in front of him. I particularly like how him and Martinez already have an understanding of who challenges for a ball and who sits back to cover. Our other defenders still haven't learned that after years of trying.
Now, where are all those people who were writing off a World Cup winner and 5x Champions League winner? He is a world class player and always was, but its been perfect proof that even the very best players can't perform if they're dropped in a dysfunctional team next to a Harry Maguire. Literally our only worry with him is fitness.
Now, where are all those people who were writing off a World Cup winner and 5x Champions League winner? He is a world class player and always was, but its been perfect proof that even the very best players can't perform if they're dropped in a dysfunctional team next to a Harry Maguire. Literally our only worry with him is fitness.
Mine too.
I thought Dalot, McTominay and Martinez all played well too, but with Varane what you can't put down in stats and numbers, is the calmness and authority he exudes. He's leading that defensive line in a way Maguire never could.
I agree.
It was clear to me in the summer that Varane and Martinez would be our best pairing moving forward.
If he can stay fit this season, we'll be well placed to challenge top 4 - and there'll be virtually no route back into the side for Maguire.
*Edit - does anyone else find it mad that Varane is younger than Maguire?
*Edit - does anyone else find it mad that Varane is younger than Maguire?
This makes me more happy than what's rational.
Maguire is an individualistic defender who likes to win his own battles. He will pick a player to follow in any given situation and that will be who he goes and tackles. He doesn't have much understanding of defending as a unit and it means everybody else ends up having to do the same thing, chasing one player around, and he doesn't spot when others need covering so as attackers move around the defensive line we lose them too easily.
To be fair it's a bit of an English thing, 'win your personal battle' and keep the number 9 quiet, but in modern football you then end up missing the flying winger or the midfielder coming from deep.
I think Varane at his physical best is quicker than Rio, I think he is still very quick defender compared to the likes of VVD or Dias, but Rio was better technically and overall of course.
Slightly concerning but also great that our last 3 MotM awards should go to defenders
Better than it going to DDG despite losing.
It shouldn't be even City has to defend their own goal sometimes. Yeah it stands out more because the attack is no where near as fluid as we might like but we all knew this would take time anyway particularly with injuries, yet this defence is absolutely something to be positive about and build upon its massive when was the last time they had two clean sheets in a row? I mean they are celebrating balls going out for a goal kick like they had scored themselves.
Oh how I hope we have some luck with injuries this season and have a constant, stable defence with this guy next to Martinez.
80m!
Yeah, its great to see. As I think Dalot said, you don't score many goals as a defender so you celebrate good defending like a goal. We will need to start putting more games to bed soon or we will drop points though. We rode our luck a little at times in all of the 3 wins we have had this season. I think that Casemiro and Antony will make a big difference and I really hope that Martial can stay fit longer than a game because with the team and manager we have now we should be able to play some lovely football and kick on. Chelsea are struggling a bit. Liverpool are blowing a little hot and cold and Tottenham aren't the force many thought they would be. Top 4 is 100% in our own control this year and we need it.
I don’t think this is true at all, in fact I’d say it’s the opposite. He’s come through the football system playing in usually deeper sitting defensive line teams, Sheffield United, Hull, even at Leicester they didn’t have a particularly high line. He’s good in that setup, he’s a big unit and his strengths which are aerial and man marking (when in a deep line) although he really lacks aggression.
If anything we want him to be a bit more individualistic, to take charge of situations and be more decisive. I think now everyone has accepted he’s been a poor signing for the fee but there’s no reason he can’t be a good backup to Varane. Because of his size Ole had him attacking balls and being front foot and that’s not his game, he constantly got caught in no man’s land and doesn’t have recovery pace. He can do a job as the deeper more passive CB, he’s good enough on the ball (albeit he’s nowhere near as good as people made him out to be when we signed him) and we need depth.
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