Manchester United face Spurs in the Premier League this coming weekend and the club’s official website has just hinted that Raphael Varane could be fit for this game.
The French defender has been on the sidelines recovering from a groin injury and his absence has left a gaping hole in Manchester United’s defence in the previous few matches.
The club’s doctors though seem to be hopeful that Raphael Varane could make a late entry into the matchday squad on Saturday.
The early team news claims: “In more positive news, Ole indicated before the Liverpool match that Pogba’s fellow countrymen Raphael Varane and Anthony Martial could be pushing for returns after being injured whilst on international duty.
“We should receive an update in the pre-match press conference, which is expected to take place on Friday.”
Drop Harry Maguire if Raphael Varane is fit?
Harry Maguire has been the main cause of the doom and gloom in the previous few weeks and against Liverpool, the England captain was all over the place.
He looked out of sorts and out of ideas of how to deal with Salah and co and there’s a big chance that a repeat of the same could happen if Harry Kane and Son manage to find their rhythm.
And this is why we think the manager should take the gamble and replace Maguire with Raphael Varane if the Frenchman is fully fit.
🚨 Raphael Varane (in red circle) spotted in training with the rest of his teammates at Carrington, as per video released in Manchester United app 👇 #mufc #mujournal pic.twitter.com/zP6pF7LbIN
— United Journal (@theutdjournal) October 27, 2021
Lindelof has managed to tread carefully in the absence of Varane and now with his job on the line, Solskjaer should be selecting players only on merit.
But then we doubt if the Norwegian has the courage to drop his captain. A manager who’s not bold enough to make substitutions at the right time will never dare to drop a player like Harry Maguire to the bench, no matter what the circumstances.
Try your luck with an unfit Raphael Varane?
The Man United boss can obviously take the risk of using Raphael Varane even if he is not 100% fit. The last time he tried something like that was with Maguire against Leicester City and things did not go too well that time.
Knowing Solskjaer, he will most certainly replace Lindelof with Varane meaning there could be a pair in central defence, one of whom is not fully fit and the other is coming up with laughable performances.
Spurs boast a forward line of Son, Harry Kane and Lucas Moura so a repeat of the 5-0 scoreline is very much possible if an unfit Varane and Harry Maguire are marshalling the backline.
Something has to change if Man United are to beat Spurs and help Ole retain his job. But for that to happen, the manager himself has to make some bold and bitter selection changes.
