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Former Arsenal striker, Ian Wright, has claimed that Fulham were intentionally targeting Manchester United centre back, Raphael Varane, during their 1-2 win at Old Trafford on Saturday.
The whole back line endured a difficult afternoon as the Cottagers created 17 chances during the game and were worthy winners on the day.
The former Real Madrid defender in particular suffered as he had some quite depressing statistics to finish the game.
The Peoples Person reported after the game that he ended the match without a single tackle, block or interception despite the home side’s defence being under regular pressure.
With Lisandro Martinez out once again, United would expect to be able to rely on the experience of the serial trophy collector, however Varane has struggled to be the defensive lynchpin fans might expect him to be.
Pundit Ian Wright also picked up on the weakness of play from the defender and highlighted this while speaking on his podcast, Wrighty’s House.
Commenting on the game he pinpointed the Frenchman’s struggles on the ball and believed that the Londoners were desperate for him to receive it.
“I tell you who you could hear a couple of not groans but… Varane. I could see Fulham targeted Varane.”
The former Arsenal striker also went into greater detail of how Fulham manager Marco Silva’s tactics had generated such problems in the Red Devils’ structure on the ball.
“They marked up everybody in the midfield and only gave him one pass back inside to Harry Maguire and he took so long to get the control down and give it to Casemiro, then he got caught on it and Fulham went again.
“I was like they are so unorganised. There is going to be some more defeats for Man United this season.”
It is no secret that Erik ten Hag relies a great deal on Lisandro Martinez’s fantastic composure on the ball and contribution to the build-up play.
The Argentine can resist the press and play pinpoint accurate balls through opposition midfield to unleash United’s rapid attackers.
However, it is clear that Varane is certainly not capable of getting anywhere near the Argentine’s composure on the ball and it is something that United will need to figure out if they are to continue their assault on the top four and FA Cup.