Erik ten Hag explains how Raphael Varane is the ‘leader’ of Man Utd’s defence after replacing axed captain Harry Maguire
ERIK TEN HAG has revealed that Raphael Varane is the new leader of his Manchester United’s defence.
The French centre-back, 29, endured a difficult first campaign at Old Trafford last term following his arrival from Real Madrid.
A number of injuries contributed to his lack of form, but now the 2018 World Cup winner appears to have found his top gear under his new Dutch boss at the Red Devils.
United have won all five matches that Varane has started this season – only conceding twice during his 495 minutes on the pitch.
He initially replaced captain Harry Maguire in the starting XI for last month’s 2-1 victory over Liverpool and has remained in the backline for all but one of the subsequent five games.
And after he starred again in last night’s 2-0 Europa League triumph at FC Sheriff, Ten Hag heaped praise on the ex-Lens star.
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He told MUTV: “The reason (for another clean sheet) is we were good in possession and we defended very well.
“With Rapha Varane there as the leader, he puts everyone in the right position, he fits really good together with Licha Martinez and also the two full-backs did their job really good.
“Difficult start, opponent really played direct, opportune, go for second ball, we lost too many balls at the start of the game.
“But after a certain period I think we found a better formation, especially over on the left side.
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“And you see we can play between the lines and we adapted our game and we scored a great goal and from that moment on we dictated the game total.”
Maguire replaced Varane last week in the back four but was unable to stop his team from slipping to defeat against Real Sociedad.
But he did get a little taste of the action yesterday as he came off the bench to replace Martinez in the dying stages at Sheriff.