It has been only four games but, after eight years and £260million, we dare say that Manchester United might have replaced one of the best-ever defensive partnerships…
Finally, after eight expensive, calamity-ridden years, Manchester United appear to have found a partnership with the potential to belatedly replace one of the best pairings the Premier League has ever seen.
Of course, four games is not evidence enough to crown Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez as the new Rio Ferdinand-Nemanja Vidic. But the early signs for Erik ten Hag look very encouraging indeed.
It’s a simple formula, one that has served United extremely well when the blend has been perfected in the past. One attacks what moves; the other drops off. Vidic did the first job; Steve Bruce too. Rio, similar to Gary Pallister even if he was also peerless in the air, swept around.
With Martinez emerging as a modern-day Vidic and Varane bringing the kind of serenity and security that made him one of the world’s most highly-regarded defenders at Real Madrid, United now have a foundation they can build upon.
It’s taken them too long and too much money has been squandered along the way. Ed Woodward spent £180million on furnishing Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with Eric Bailly (whose problem was never his nationality), Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire and Varane. Louis van Gaal was presented with Marcos Rojo but in the end, shunted Daley Blind in alongside Chris Smalling.
That’s almost £260million spent on specialist centre-backs since Ferdinand and Vidic departed in 2014 – but the last lump sum appears to be the key spend.
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Varane said in May that “I am waiting for next season, I have big wishes”. Chief among them, presumably, a partner with whom to build a functional relationship. The signing of Martinez seems to have granted the Frenchman that wish.
United needed to do something to tease some form from Varane; his first year in the Premier League was pretty wretched. He walked into a failing team which, compared to the sides he graced at Real, must have been a hell of a shock. That United team dragged all of its individuals down with it.
That isn’t to absolve Varane of all responsibility for his performances. On the rare occasions he was fit, he often cruised through matches, which isn’t the compliment it usually is when it comes to the World Cup winner. His longest…
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