Aheed Abrar
Paul Scholes does not feel Manchester United duo Raphael Varane and David de Gea are ‘great’ footballers
Manchester United legend Paul Scholes does not feel Raphael Varane and David de Gea are ‘great’ footballers. The ex-Red Devil, who spent his entire career at the Old Trafford side, believes the duo lack technical abilities on the ball.
The French centre-back and the Spanish goalkeeper have been good for United this season. However, Erik ten Hag has seemingly had to tweak his style of play to accommodate the duo.
After losing against Brighton and Hove Albion and Brentford, the Dutch manager has set up the Red Devils to play more direct. And speaking on The Overlap YouTube channel (h/t Express), Scholes is glad the gaffer changed his system.
“After the Brentford game, he realised he didn’t have the players to play that way. He knew he had to go more direct. Raphael Varane, as great a player as he’s been, is not a great footballer. David De Gea is not a great footballer.
“So, play to your strengths, which for United is the attacking players, and you have to admire the new manager for playing that way [more direct].”
Varane signed for United in the summer of 2021. The 2018 World Cup winner arrived at the Old Trafford side from Real Madrid. However, the 29-year-old’s debut season was marred by fitness issues.
Similarly, De Gea came to Manchester from La Liga. The 31-year-old was signed under Sir Alex Ferguson in 2011. Since then, the Spaniard has been world-class at times.
Ten Hag arrived from Ajax, where he had built a reputation of playing possession-based football. The Dutch manager brought success to the Amsterdam-based club with his style of play.
However, Ten Hag has seemingly abandoned some of his traits to bring United back on track. De Gea evidently did not enjoy passing the ball to his defenders and made some big errors at the start of the current campaign.
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Starting from the game against Liverpool, the Red Devils have not been as adamant about playing the ball short. And breaking on the counter helped us win the North West derby 2-1.
Subsequently, United have gone on a four-game winning run, beating table toppers Arsenal most recently. However, we now face another big test as the Red Devils visit the Etihad Stadium to face Champions Manchester City on the weekend.
