CONTEXUALIZATION OF THE ANALYSIS
Real Madrid have just completed the sale of Raphaël Varane to Manchester United, a player who has marked an iconic era at the club. After a total of 10 years in the ‘casa blanca’ and with more than 18 titles to his name, the Frenchman has sought new challenges in his career.
With the departure of the defender, Real Madrid loses not only an experienced title winning player, but also a centre back with skills that are very difficult to find in the current market.
This week at the MBP School of Coaches, we will analyse, through the fundamentals of the game, what Real Madrid will lose with the departure of Raphaël Varane.
ANALYSIS
The first fundamental that stands out in Varane’s performances is his ability and effectiveness in ‘Covering the centre back or full back that is defending the on-ball opponent’.
The 28-year-old is a defensive stalwart in these types of actions, consistently being able to go out to defend the opponent if they have beaten his teammate. In addition, the player has a great reaction speed, which allows him to respond quickly and deal with this type of play successfully.
Likewise, when Varane is covering the centre back, he applies a second level of cover, ensuring the balance of the team’s defensive line in the central channel.
The second fundamental to be highlighted for its high-level application is ‘Reducing the space from the opponent dismarking into feet’. The implementation of this makes it difficult for the opponent to comfortably receive the ball when it arrives to them.
In addition, the new United star has a great capacity for anticipating these actions, which are enhanced with the application of this fundamental, winning the ball from the opponent on many occasions.
The third fundamental that Varane consistently executes to a high level, and one which should be applied frequently due to the style of play in England, is the fundamental of ‘Coming out to help the full back who has been beaten as long as there is an advantage in the centre of defence’.
In situations where the opponent has managed to get behind the fullback, Varane has shown a strong efficiency in moving out to cut out these balls. Likewise, another important aspect in the application of the fundamental is his cognitive and interpretative capacity of the situation in the central channel, being aware of the situations in which he should go out to defend and the ones when he shouldn’t, depending on the advantage in the central channel.
Lastly, the fourth fundamental that Varane has shown a notable regular capacity to perform in his career at Real Madrid has been the application of ‘directing the play towards favorable spaces’.
In teams that dominate possession, such as Real Madrid and Manchester United, the application of these attacking behaviours are vital to speed up the offensive phase of the team and find situations of spatial advantage over the opponent.
SUMMARY OF THE ANALYSIS
In conclusion, the departure of Raphaël Varane to England will considerably weaken the defensive solidity that Real Madrid has based itself on over the last ten years. Now it remains to be seen how Carlo Ancelotti readjusts the team’s defensive line and how he manages to form a central defensive pairing as solid as the one that comprised Raphaël Varane and Sergio Ramos.
