So we are guaranteed at least one WC winner. Nice!
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So we are guaranteed at least one WC winner. Nice!
If he wins this he’s got to be up there with the most decorated players ever.
CL + WC Varane.
Hope he can stay fit for us as he's the best CB in the world when fit and playing regularly.
Hope he can stay fit for us as he's the best CB in the world when fit and playing regularly.
Ehhhh....Bruno's not there.
He’ll get injured in the 89th minute of the final knowing our luck
I know.
Won CL 3 times in a row and could win WC twice in a row. Some career.
Only watched the game in parts but he made some crucial clearances.
Only watched the game in parts but he made some crucial clearances.
A privilege to have such a warrior and winner like him in the team.
He’ll get injured while getting of the plane in Manchester
He's really just an insurance policy with Tchoumani and his CB partner, in this case Konate and an extra CB at RB in Kounde doing lots of active ball winning, he's just sitting back and mopping up what the others dont deal with. A bit of a Lindelof role
It cancels out with playing for United.
yeah. He's not really stand out, like Pepe or Thiago Silva sort of way, where he seems like "just be there". He's not trying to shine by making himself like some sort of ball playing playmaker or the aggressive in-your-face defender. He's there to do his job, never make mistake, and hold the line.
Probably like Carrick in Scholes' era. A supporting role but significantly important to how it coincide with United most successful period. He has so much "game intelligence".
Chuffed for him personally but just hope we can get through the next 2/3 games without our first choice CB partnership
We won't if we are going to rely on Lindelöf and Maguire to defend us into gaining points, our only hope would be for our attackers to score lots of goals to win us games.
The theory was that he would do that for us while Maguire was the aggressive one (an Athletic writer wrote a whole thing about CB partnerships being best with a "cat" who sits and a "dog" who is aggressive), and it didn't work horribly last year, but Ten Hag watched Maguire's build up play on the left and was definitely horrified by it and went out and bought Lisandro and made Lindelof the new backup LCB.
While Martinez has been playing for Argentina on this WC, he didn't start in most of the games, he won't be that tired. He'll miss Carabao cup tie vs Burnley, but expect him to be ready for PL games afterwards. Varane could get extended rest though, missing games vs Forrest and perhaps Wolves.
There's an admin who might ban you for that
That same admin once said AWB would be our right back for the next 10 years
Maybe its because I’ve been watching British media but I’m surprised not more has been made of his performances.
He’s been pretty great.
He’s been pretty great.
He’s been good.
One huge plus for United is France have brought him back to match fitness for us so he should be ready to go when he gets back and in top form.
He's been getting better with every game. Was a bit ropey in his first appearances back from injury. Which is to be expected. If he can just stay fit until our next league match we'll be getting him back fully fit and full of confidence. Which will be a big plus for the team.
Running with the trophy around the pitch, lifts it above his head too sharply and pulls a hamstring
What I like about him that despite doing minimum of defensive work cause every other player does everything for him he's great cause he's just there, his presence only makes a difference.
just watch, he'll win the WC, come back to OT and get injured first training session and be out for months.
Remember, he looked broken and in tears after that injury v Chelsea where it looked like he might even miss the tournament. To feature and now be in the final is amazing. Good on him
Yep. Its not my favourite type of defending but it isnt costing France to this point and it could be argued that the reassurance of Varane not looking to be a ball winning CB outside the box and just helping to clear the ball when it comes into the box helps the more aggressive players next to him have the confidence to be so aggressive and win the ball a lot. Because they trust Varane will deal with it if they get it wrong.
To be clear to others, Varane has averaged the least amount of tackles in the entire French team (other than the keeper) and joint 7th most interceptions with Griezmann and Pavard. Joint 11th most aerials.
But when the ball comes into the box he's averaged the 4th most clearances per 90 mins behind whoever his CB partner is (Konate and Upamacano) and Camavinga who played 1 game. So thats where he is making a closer contribution to his CB partner and more than the fullbacks.
It obviously gets him a low score on whoscored (2nd lowest rating overall behind Fofana out of the France players to have more than 1 start) but to go back to the first paragraph, it hasnt cost France to this point and if he's helping give confidence to his teammates that he'll sweep up so they can have maximum aggression winning the ball, thats not something that can be counted and scored but it would certainly be a benefit to the team.
Yep, barring any injury in the final it been great for his fitness.
It's two fold. Varane is an immense sweeper with his pace and reading of the game, so he's never needed to be an ultra proactive CB as his partners normally take up that more rash role. Also, France doesn't defend aggressively at all in their style, so much of his contribution is likely to come within the box as opposed to actively making more tackles higher up.
Pretty wild to say someone that's won 4 CL titles and potentially 2 WC's is underrated, but he certainly is.
We have (maybe) best defender in the world in our team. But somehow, i don't think that United fans are appreciate him enough. Lisandro gets most of praise and love (not without reason, Lisandro is great) but Varane is the one who is the leader of our defence and level above everyone else.
Anyway, can't wait the rest of season. Him and Lisandro as defensive pair gives me hope that this will be great season
Anyway, can't wait the rest of season. Him and Lisandro as defensive pair gives me hope that this will be great season
Couldn't agree more
Mbappe is the star but Varane, Griezmann, Lloris and Giroud have lead and been the backbone of this team. It’s how they’ve got to the final
But that isnt true as you would see from his teammates numbers. They win the ball plenty. Even players like Griezmann. But also his CB teammate Konate averages the most tackles per game along with Hakimi, 3.8 each
So players do need to be doing that, his teammates are. He just isnt and it hasnt been a problem till now. They may win the world cup with him not doing it either.
Thanks. This confirming the eye test of him. Although itt's been discussed before that centerback is one of the hardest to quantify in terms of their effectiveness. Positioning, marking, off-side trap, decision to tackle or just shadowing, when to go long or short, how hard to tackle without making a foul, etc. are hard to quantify.
They may not be physically tired but I'll bet they'll be mentally tired, at he top level that's probably more important
Yeah the mental tiredness is a worry
they need each other, they compliment each other very well. We haven't seen them together a ton of times yet, but you can tell right away they click as a defensive pair, and will only get better.It's good to see as we haven't had a quality central defensive duo in a long time. Adding a specialist defensive midfielder in, also has been a big help.
He got the virus that has been affecting a few players in the French camp, he's being monitored and might miss the final on Sunday (along with Konaté).
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