Lisandro Martinez And Raphael Varane Becoming The Perfect Partnership For Man Utd

The scale of the rebuild ahead of Erik ten Hag as Manchester United was made clear in the nature of his team’s defeats to Brighton and Brentford. United were outfought and outplayed by with an inferior talent level with ten Hag sent back to the drawing board to come up with another, better plan to take the team forward.

That plan was unveiled in the win over Liverpool and was reused in the 1-0 victory over Southampton, giving Manchester United back-to-back wins in the PremierPINC
League for the first time since February. The central defensive partnership of Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane has given ten Hag something to build on.

Manchester United kept their first clean sheet of the season in the win at St Mary’s Stadium and the performance of Martinez and Varane was key to this. Southampton enjoyed a large share of possession and had opportunities to score, but United’s defence held firm. This was in stark contrast to how it folded in the first two games of the season.

Questions have been asked of Martinez since his summer switch to Old Trafford from Ajax with many pundits focusing on the Argentine’s height. At 5ft 9”, he is one of the shortest centre backs in the Premier League, but that hasn’t stopped him from giving ten Hag’s team some much-needed aggression at the back.

Despite his size, Martinez has won six of the seven aerial duels he has contested for United in the Premier League this season. He is comfortable on the ball and gives ten Hag a way to spread out possession from the back. Manchester United have lacked a natural left-footer in central defence for years and Martinez gives them balance.

United have still to see the best of Varane after his arrival from Real Madrid last summer. The Frenchman is a proven winner at the top level of the club and international game, but a series of injuries have prevented him from achieving consistency in the Premier League. His partnership with Harry Maguire last season also proved troublesome.

“100 percent, I am convinced of that,” ten Hag replied when asked following the victory away to Southampton whether Varane’s best days in a Manchester United shirt are ahead of him. “During pre-season we built a real careful and individual training plan that in the last three weeks he has been involved in every session on the pitch. I am really happy about that.”

Ten Hag’s Manchester United are very much still a work-in-progress, but the Dutch coach might have found one solution to the defensive issues his team experienced in their first two matches of the season. Martinez and Varane are quality individuals, but their partnership suggests they might bring even more out of each other as a pairing.