FootballHQ
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- Aston Villa
Wasn't Varane on the bench for a month in the winter? Probably would've got injured earlier but ultimately he was available, just not used and ETH went with Johnny Evans instead.OK, but now imagine that Diego Carlos and Lenglet were out too, as well as both of your LBs.
That has been the situation United have found themselves in for most of this season. For prolonged periods, we have had our 8th and 9th choice options at CB and essentially no LBs.
Now, this is not really an "excuse" because its our own fault...but it's impossible to have a good season if you physically can't field a defence half the time.
Villa finished 8pts above United in 4th spot. I am absolutely certain that United would have picked up another 9pts had two of Varane, Maguire, Shaw or Martinez been fit for 35+ games.
Again, our own fault as these are repeat issues that we haven't addressed and some of these players are repeat offenders...but we've had by far the worst of it RE : injuries this season. It's not just about total injuries, its about relentless injuries in one or two key positions.
10 injuries might have relatively little impact on a squad if they are fringe / minor players and spread across multiple positions, but I defy any club do lose 8 defenders at once for half the season + and do well
Everyone knows his brittleness but your best defensive performances of the season have come with Varane starting so would assume he'll be in tomorrow given it's his last game.