Varane is a colossus.
So, how about that Varane + Martinez partnership?
- Thread starter TsuWave
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Yeah to that I suggest you look at the Vidic game back in 09 against West Ham when Giggs scored a brilliant goal if you think that he has more presence than Nemanja
The drop-off from these two to any other partnership is... vast.
As good as it gets. They can play in any top team.
Too bad, there's noticeable gap between them and substitutions
Too bad, there's noticeable gap between them and substitutions
IMO I think it does. The PL hasnt changed that much and its going to start to show against teams that have a target man. And there about 10 in the PL
Best duo since Rio and Vidic
Where in my quote did I ever say he had more presence than Vidic? I argued, which I still do, that Varane is better in the air than Rio but not quite at Vidic's level... He's faster and better with the ball than Vidic, however. He definitely doesn't have the same presence as Vidic, but I think he is coming to the point that attackers realize they cannot outrun him, and most realize they cannot outmuscle him. That makes attackers doubt themselves, which in turn creates a presence, even if he doesn't nearly look as intimidating as Vidic or Rio.
I love how aggressive these two are, pushing into midfield and pressing pro-actively, makes the world of difference.
Absolute quality, these two.
They just dealt very effectively with one of the best around. Haaland poses a massive threat, but he would against most defenders. After that you have, what, Mitrovic? Che Adams? Not exactly Drogba are they?
Most weeks they'll mostly be dealing with players they can dominate physically quite comfortably.
Adjust the thread title, add Casemiro in here. The triangle of Casemiro, Varane and Martinez... Honestly would be hard pressed to find a better one in terms of current level and mixture of all they offer. Absolute beasts all 3. Not even getting ahead of myself here. We know that Casemiro and Varane are among the very best in the world and probably all timers in their positions with all they've achieved. They're still at their best. Martinez is the new guy who has shown an absolutely elite level since day 1.
As long as they stay fit, what a base the rest of the team has to build from.
As long as they stay fit, what a base the rest of the team has to build from.
Early days for the threesome. But last summer I was demanding a new spine to the team as we looked spineless.
Varane, Martinez and Casemiro is a new threesome in place and looks a lot more formidable than Varane, Maguire and McTom/Fred
Varane, Martinez and Casemiro is a new threesome in place and looks a lot more formidable than Varane, Maguire and McTom/Fred
Brilliant individually, colossal together.
Quite the indictment for Maguire, how he couldn't make it work with Varane.
Even in the City rout, they only truly scored 1 goal when Varane wasn't compromised. He came off after we were 0-3 down but he was out on the sideline being medically tended for the second goal and the third goal came when he was limping around and couldn't move well which allowed Haaland to get on the end of a sweet KDB ball almost unchallenged.
Yeah, now with proper DM and CBs we are looking good defensively. Varane and Martinez both have done very good job this season.
I like Varane more. He isn't the swashbuckling tough tackling guy everyone praises but then a calming composed defender. The best defender since Rio, to play for us.
Love Martinez but my favorite is Varane.
Love Martinez but my favorite is Varane.
Can you imagine the day we go back to Maguire!
Love Varane and Martinez.
Just a different gravy
Love Varane and Martinez.
Just a different gravy
Most likely next Thursday, against Sheriff
We need to capitalize on this trio (including Casemiro) in some meaningful way in the next couple of years, before time catches up with them. Looking like potentially the best foundation we've had in donkeys years. Add a striker, a keeper and a ball playing CM in there and we could really go somewhere.
Yup 100% my shopping list as well. Ball playing CM and CF being the highest priority. Imagine we had a guy like Rooney against Spurs yesterday - it would've been a cricket score.
Love them both. Ice and Fire.
Varane feels like our next Captain. Rather him than Bruno.
Varane feels like our next Captain. Rather him than Bruno.
Very enjoyable pairing. We look really solid at the back with these two, not to mention great going forward.
feck me how can anyone say this after last night?
With how DDG is playing , think we can park the requirement for now. A midfielder like FDJ, Striker like Osimhen and a defender like Timber.
Do you think Bruno's leadership contributed to our performance last night? He just comes across as a bit whiney and boring. If I were a United player I'd probably look up more to someone like Varane. A level headed guy who's well respected and has won it all.feck me how can anyone say this after last night?
Abso-fecking-lutely.
Ran further than anyone on the pitch, won the ball back again and again, created 9 opportunities, encouraged his teammates, everything about it was a captain’s performance.
That's called a good performance, has nothing to do with leadership. I'm not in the dressing room so I wouldn't know how he's perceived by his teammates, but for me he comes across as very annoying.
Leadership is as much about leading by example than being a likeable bloke in the dressing room. Last night had everything to do with leading by example.
He seems very well liked by his teammates, footballers tend to really appreciate a teammate that opponents find a right annoying cnut. He was class again after final whistle with Elanga.
Don’t just take my word for it though…
eh, we’ve played the best teams in the league already. And I think we’ve seen enough to say that any team that comes to play Sam Allardyce chuck it up top type of football against us and is successful in doing it is just that - a bad game here and there. these are due for any team and wouldn’t necessarily be an indictment on this partnership and certainly not because of a perceived lack of height. I’m sure that even when we had nba height CB partnerships we lost the odd game to long ball extraordinaire type teams
Captain fathead in tears. Send him back to Greece.
Older caf, you think I didnt watch these players?
Not picking a fight mate. Just an assumtion. Settle down
An incorrect assumption about someones age or knowlegde is never JUST an assumption.
Not picking a fight either just pointing out the invalid assumption
I’m actually dreading it. Because the truth is it’s coming and it’ll be coming more often than we want it to. Even if Martinez and Varane stay fit, they can’t possibly play every game.
I really hope he has a good World Cup and forces a move.
Well captains need to string it all together more often than not right. Bruno isn’t consistent right now and it costs us a lot of games when he’s below par and giving possession up every few minutes in some games.
And yet it's more important to be able to dominate games and defend on the front foot with aggressive tackling and top tier distribution than it is to be tall in your own box. The one chance a team might get from hoofing it to a lump of a striker against us 20 times is worth it if we dominate them the other 19 with Martinez snuffing everything out and playing line breaking passes.
Bruno’s been pretty consistent this season and is absolutely miles better at keeping the ball under ETH. Since Brentford we have the second best record in the league after all.
I think you’re stuck in previous seasons, with previous tactics.