Erik ten Hag is in the process of preparing for an early kick-off against Southampton.
The Red Devils are set to travel to the south coast for Saturday’s first game of the day and keen to replicate Monday’s performance and result against rivals Liverpool, ten Hag will already have his starting 11 in mind, and for club captain Harry Maguire, this does not necessarily include him.
Despite having the side’s armband, Maguire found himself on the Red Devils’ bench for Monday’s blockbuster clash at Old Trafford, and admitting there are no guarantees over the Englishman’s future inclusion, ten Hag, who spoke to reporters on Friday, as quoted by The Sun, said: “It doesn’t mean when you are captain, you are established to play always, especially when you also have Varane in your squad.”
Speaking of Raphael Varane, the Frenchman is clearly going to play an important role for ten Hag but even though he has bags of experience and four Champions League trophies to his name, the Dutch tactician has spotted a potential weakness.
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Addressing Varane, ten Hag revealed that the former Real Madrid star has been put on an individual training program designed to add to his physical stature.
“Varane’s stature is immense and in pre-season, we took a decision to build him physically, so that he had a bit of a slow start,” the 52-year-old said.
“We’re happy we built him in that way and you see when the team needed him, he was there.
“His profile, his stature and what he has won already in the past shows he can really contribute to his team.”
Both these comments from the former Ajax boss will come as good news to a lot of fans. Maguire has failed to live up to his record-breaking price tag, with many pundits and supporters identifying the Englishman as the root cause of the Red Devils’ defensive woes.
Elsewhere, Varane, a hugely popular figure and a player who is understandably admired by so many, will need to play an important role and already showing signs of forming a great partnership with new signing Lisandro Martinez, alarm bells will certainly be ringing for skipper Maguire.
Immediately Maguire entered the squad during pre season, Manchester United started conceding goals, but I am very happy that ETH has been able to take the the bold decision by benching the major cause of our problem.
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