With a lot of rumours surrounding his future at the club, the Frenchman produced a brilliant performance against Liverpool at the heart of United’s defence.
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Manchester United showed big character to bounce back from their recent disappointments to register a hard-fought draw against Liverpool at Anfield. Coming into the game, the home side were the clear favourites in the Premier League tie. The form was with Liverpool as they were going through a good spell this season, generating the results on a consistent basis. However, the same cannot be said for United, who were struggling massively in the build-up to the match.
Raphael Varane was one of the players who struggled to get into the Manchester United starting XI regularly this season. With a lot of rumours surrounding his future at the club, the Frenchman produced a brilliant performance against Liverpool at the heart of United’s defence. Speaking about Varane’s performance, manager Erik ten Hag, quoted on the club’s website, said, “Absolutely, but we know what he is capable of and he has many such performances.”
He added: “I think he did very well, as the whole team did, [and] in the partnership with Jonny Evans, they were both leading the team from the back. I think also Andre Onana played a big part in it but I can mention all the players because it was really a team [performance]. Very disciplined, but we should have taken [advantage] more on the ball. With three or four passes, that we are capable of, we could have even hurt the opponent more. But all over, in the end, you have to conclude that we had the best chances from open play, from Rasmus Hojlund and Garnacho.”
Ten Hag also went on to explain how proud he was of the team’s display on Sunday night. “I said that after the game in the dressing room, yeah, I am very proud of this team. We should do this more often. I said this. For instance, Newcastle was also a tough game and we make one mistake and switch off and then it is a goal. But when you stay in the game, and you are disciplined in your gameplan, finally it opens up and then you can take your chances. Or even, you can get two, three, four passes in after the ball regains, and get the switches in and then you can be really more dominant in the game,” he stated.
The Man United manager also reserved special praise for youngster Kobbie Mainoo following his brilliant performance on Sunday night. “If you are good enough, you are old enough. He proved that. When he gets used more often to those games, we will get even more joy from it. Because then his scanning and his speed of action, he can get such passes, three or four passes in and get switches in, and he is the player who can really hurt opponents,” he explained.
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