‘Everything is robotic’ – Raphaël Varane criticises football’s lack of creativity | OneFootball

In a wide-ranging interview with L’Équipe, Raphaël Varane reflected on the changes he’s seen in football since first breaking into the professional team at RC Lens in 2010.

It’s a topic that the retired defender has been keen to discuss before and in a previous podcast with VAL Foot, the centre-back argued that football was becoming far less focused on creativity and was instead moving towards a more homogenous game.

Varane pointed towards an era he developed in, one which appeared to have more number tens and a style of play which provided these creative pivots within the team spaces to operate and influence the game, like with the Real Madrid side he joined which possessed players like Kaká and Mesut Özil.

Raphaël Varane: “Football should remain a game of mistakes.”

The former Manchester United centre-back expanded on this point in his interview with the French paper stating “There is much less creativity [in the game], fewer geniuses on the pitch.” The former World Cup winner added, “Everything is robotic, there are game patterns that make it difficult to shake up a team’s block. There is much less freedom.”

However, the former Real Madrid star was keen to point towards a manager he had worked under who has made it a point to allow players far more freedom, “Carlo Ancelotti allows a lot [of freedom], but the new generation of coaches allow less. Football should remain a game of mistakes, but it is much less so.”

GFFN | Nick Hartland