Raphael Varane’s importance to Manchester United & France cannot be stressed enough | OneFootball

Manchester United have not looked back since Erik ten Hag made personnel changes to his line-up for the crucial encounter against Liverpool.

Prior to that game, United had opted to partner club captain Harry Maguire with Lisandro Martinez and unfortunately, the ploy backfired as the Red Devils lost their opening two games on the trot.

After a specialised training programme intended to build up fitness, Raphael Varane came into the starting XI and United have not lost in the five games where he has started.

Varane undroppable under ETH

His partnership with Martinez has been hailed by one and all and the 20-time English champions have conceded only twice in 495 minutes of football when the pair have played together.

United have kept three clean sheets and conceded only twice in that span of time and the Frenchman has taken his form and carried on in the same vein during the international break.

France discovered the importance of having the United defender in their ranks, as he played the entire game against Austria where Didier Deschamps’ men came out 2-0 victors.

The national team manager decided to rest the former Real Madrid star for their match against Denmark and the Les Bleus ended up losing the contest 0-2.

This means that whenever the World Cup winner has started, both his club and country have won. And whenever he has not played from the beginning, his teams have collapsed.

Varane will return fit for duty

The French defender admitted that having a full pre-season under his belt helped and proved to be the main difference after he struggled to remain fit last year.

“Being able to play regularly, having had a full pre-season, allows me to feel good on the pitch,” the French international was quoted as saying by RMC Sport while on national duty.

The best outcome from the international break from a United fan’s perspective is that the 29-year-old will be returning fresh and injury-free.

The Red Devils will take to the field against Manchester City next and supporters will be hoping that United can carry on their four-match winning streak and Varane will be one of Ten Hag’s crucial cogs.