Erik ten Hag praises Raphael Varane and Luke Shaw after Manchester United win over Nottingham Forest
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has praised Raphael Varane and Luke Shaw after the Red Devils’ win over Nottingham Forest. The France and England internationals were paired together in the back four against the Tricky Trees.
The Old Trafford side took on Steve Cooper’s team at home in the Premier League on Tuesday (27 December). Goals from Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Fred sealed a 3-0 victory for us.
Speaking to the media via Manchester Evening News after the fixture, Ten Hag was delighted with the way Shaw performed out of position as a centre-back. The Dutch manager was also impressed with Varane.
“I think you always question yourself after a break. What will be the restart and we play a team – especially the back four – they never played together and a player who never played ever in a centre-back position (Shaw).
“Rapha shows once again his great personality, the great standard he is giving Manchester United by coming from the World Cup.”
The left-back started in an unorthodox role as Harry Maguire was on the bench and Victor Lindelof was unavailable. Our captain came on as a substitute, while the Sweden international did not feature due to illness.
Shaw put in a valiant effort. The 27-year-old was brilliant as one of our centre-backs. In the current campaign, the left-back has had mixed performances.
At the start of the campaign, Tyrell Malacia had displaced the England international to a place in the starting lineup. However, he has got his place back in Ten Hag’s plans.
On the Other hand, Varane was once again a towering figure for United at the back. The 29-year-old had only recently returned after the heartbreak in the World Cup final in Qatar.
But that did not seem to deter the French national. The former Real Madrid star played 77 minutes against Forest. It was our fourth consecutive clean sheet at Old Trafford.
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The Red Devils will visit Molineux Stadium next in the Premier League. We are now one point behind fourth-place Tottenham Hotspur with a game in hand. Hopefully, the Manchester-based club are able to pip Spurs after the next round of fixtures.
