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To be fair I always felt Smalling was always overly criticised for his passing and Maguire was overrated for his passing. One of the posters said above that Varane is like peak Smalling without the weaknesses and I can certainly understand that. Not so much a Rio but more of a polished Vidic to me
England is just overly obsessed with the diagonal ball because they hate risking losing possession in the midfield, which is why they can't produce a #8 (Bellingham is an 8/10, he's Modric at Madrid, not Kroos). They could have won the World Cup if a decent but not elite #8 like Lobotka, Mac Allister or even Douglas Luiz was English.
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Yeah I genuinely can't think of the last good true 8 England has produced. Carrick I guess? Wilshere probably should have been that had he not gotten hurt either, but those two are the only ones I can think of
It might just be the least controversial opinion in here, mate. He's been utterly brilliant this season. For me, it's between him and Casemiro with Rashford on the fringes. Then there are other good alternatives such as Shaw and Martinez, but for me, Varane and Casemiro.
How nice is it to have multiple candidates for a change?
It's quite brilliant, actuallyHow nice is it to have multiple candidates for a change?
Good lad, knows where the real trophies are waiting
The reason seems somewhat obvious. He's won the world cup and the nations league, and in insanely dramatic standards lost a second world cup final. There's nothing more for him to prove or do for France. Maybe he could've gone for 100 caps but that would've been another year or so of NT football, so meh.
Got to multiple finals, won a WC and lost another in the final.
It’s good considering the circumstances, but you are probably right. His decision means he has come to the conclusion that he doesn’t have good enough physique despite only being 29.
Didn't Scholes retire early? Plenty of players do it, Doesn't mean he's not got the body for it, bit of an assumption
Exactly. Living in Manchester and travelling to France/all over Europe, in addition to United commitments is a lot with a young family.
Scholes retired from international football in 2004 and was still playing for Utd 9 years later.
Effectively already has whilst Deschamps is at the helm.I guess Martial is next then
It’s however hardly a good thing if a 29 year old player thinks his body can’t take it. The decision is good however.
Yes it’s a bit of an assumption, but it’s not a wild guess. He has been injured a lot since he came here and ETH has talked about how Varane’s fitness must be managed.
If you have been coping with injuries as a footballer since a young age and still play at the highest level at 29, with 4-5 competitions each season it's beneficial for your pay-check to get the free rest when you can. International football is just that, a good weeks rest.
