Man Utd ‘wouldn’t have needed’ star ‘in my day’ as ex-Red Devil states he’s ‘not as good’ as he used to be

Wes Brown has stated that Manchester United “wouldn’t have needed” Raphael Varane “in my day” due to the quality of players, as he believes the defender is “not as good” as he was in his prime.

Varane’s United career has stagnated this season. Injuries put him out of the side at the start of the season, and once fit again, he was benched, with each of Harry Maguire, Jonny Evans, Victor Lindelof and Luke Shaw playing instead of him.

The majority of those men have been injured at points as well, though, so Varane is back in the side – he’s played the last 10 Premier League games, starting nine of those.

Former United defender believes the four-time Champions League winner has lost something since those days at Real Madrid, but some of his struggles can be attributed to the constant chopping and changing of United’s centre-backs.

“He’s been a class act in the past. He’s won many trophies for club and country. At Manchester United, people might have thought he’s have come in and been a little bit better, but I do think, when he has played this season he’s done OK,” Brown told FourFourTwo.

“When I played centre-back during my career, I always found it harder when it wasn’t a proper partnership.  To be fair, injuries haven’t helped.

“But listen, he’s still there and he’s still got it. He’s not as good as he was in his Real Madrid days, or why would they have sold him?

“But he’s still a class act and he has a good partnership with Lisandro Martinez. But it’s just that that partnership hasn’t been given a real chance over the past couple of seasons.”

That partnership was the preferred one at centre-back at the start of last season, but injuries have meant the pair have been unable to play together as often since.

While Brown feels Varane still has some of the qualities that made him a crucial asset at Real, he does not believe the defender would have had what it took to displace some of United’s best defenders during his era at the club.

“If you’re talking about my day, no. We had prime Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic – we wouldn’t have needed him. They were almost always fit and they had that natural understanding,” Brown said.

“Gerard Pique was also there, as backup, as well as the likes of Jonny Evans, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling.

“There was a hierarchy and  different partnerships within that group that complimented each other. United don’t seem to have enough of that at the moment.”

Brown does feel that had Varane had a consistent partner in defence during his time at United, he would have been able to showcase his abilities better.

“Partnerships are key in football. Not just in defence but all over the pitch. I just don’t think Varane’s quite had that,” he added.

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