Erik ten Hag says Harry Maguire and Raphael Varane had ‘great’ World Cups

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Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has praised the World Cup performances of Harry Maguire and Raphael Varane.

Varane and Maguire of course faced each other in the quarter-finals when France beat England 2-1 en route to a second successive final.

Lisandro Martinez’s Argentina beat them there on penalties, meaning that while he celebrated, two of his United defensive colleagues suffered World Cup heartache.

Before United’s game with Wolves, Ten Hag was asked by club media about Maguire and Varane, with the former coming off the bench against Nottingham Forest, while the latter started the game.

Ten Hag on Maguire and Varane

The manager said: “I think we are in a good direction. Most players are back in training. We have to see after the last training session who we pick, we have an idea but I want to speak with the medical department then we make our decisions.

“Harry and Rapha had great World Cups too. We had two clean sheets [against Burnley and Forest] and our team is about being hard to beat.

“We attack with 11 and we defend with 11 and that’s why we are hard to beat when we are disciplined and all 11 are doing the defensive work.

“It makes it easier for our back four and our goalie and if there is a situation then they are there and are present, and we are happy with that. We have more combinations we can play and it’s a good thing for a manager and coaching staff to have that in your squad especially with the number of games we have. We have great combinations.”

Maguire went into the World Cup under huge pressure having lost his United place and lacking match sharpness before the tournament.

But he has never let England down and he was outstanding again at the World Cup despite England’s eventual disappointment.

Varane was a fitness doubt before the tournament but got himself ready and showed his quality again, helping guide France to the final despite issues on the left of their defence.

Both men may hope to start today if the game at Molineux comes too soon for Lisandro despite his return to training, but the competition at centre-half should be very fierce indeed in the new year.