One position on the pitch for Manchester United that has caused Erik ten Hag the biggest headache has been at centre-back.
Raphael Varane, Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martinez and Jonny Evans have all featured at the heart of the Man United defence and their struggles have been obvious.
Erik ten Hag has not had his ideal centre-back pairing very much this season due to the injuries suffered by Martinez and Varane.
Varane, in particular, may well have been the biggest miss for United this season and while he is back now, but the partner alongside him has changed too much throughout the season.
Varane on Lindelof
The rather unorthodox pairing of Varane and Lindelof has been the one that has featured the most this season but the two do not complement each other well at all.
Speaking to TNT Sports before the game against the Turkish side, Varane spoke about his partnership alongside the Swedish defender.
“We have to adapt. We are playing with players with experience, and we have good communication,” Varane said.
“We try to do our best. It’s a teamwork. We know in football, that injury is part of our job, so we have to adapt and do our best to help the team.”
Varane on Maguire
As well as speaking about the Swedish defender, the former Real Madrid man has spoken out against the criticism that teammate Harry Maguire has suffered this season and over the past 12 months.
“It’s never something positive, obviously, but we try to stick together, to be united. That’s very important.
“We do our best to help our teammates. That’s our role, and that’s what we are doing.”
It is clear that Maguire now deserves a run in the United first team in place of Lindelof, whether Ten Hag will trust the former Leicester City defender to feature alongside Varane remains to be seen, but he deserves his chance to shine.
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