Manchester United signed French international and World Cup winner Raphael Varane from Real Madrid this summer to strengthen their defence. Varane has started three games for the Red Devils in the Premier League since joining the club. Since then, the team has conceded two goals with one clean sheet, and the Frenchman has an assist to his name.
How has Varane performed individually in the three games? Let us take a look at his pass types, duels win rate and his performance in the other departments.
Raphael Varane plays on the right side of Manchester United defence and has played for around 300 minutes in the league. His passing accuracy is more than 90% in all three matches and has also attempted some long balls from the defence. The defender has made 19 interceptions so far this season.
The above viz is the data representation of recoveries made by players in the Premier League. All the players in the above list have played for at least 90 minutes and 300 minutes at max. Varane ranks second in the list and only behind Laporte, who made three recoveries more than Varane. These recoveries also include 11 recoveries into the opponent half.
When looking at the above chart, the general rule is that the longer the bar the better the performance – you can see the league average in the middle and the % is the percentile rank the player is in.
If we take a look at his duels win percentage, Varane is ranked above most of the players in the Premier League in defensive duels and aerial duels. The Frenchman has contested a lot of loose ball duels, but his win rate is less than the average value in the league. In the previous viz we have already seen how high he is ranked for recoveries. This image also shows us that Varane has been one of the top performers for recoveries and interceptions made on the field.
As mentioned earlier, Varane has played on the right side and supported youngster Wan-Bissaka at the back. He has contested duels in his own penalty box and has also covered the right side of play. His aerial presence is also felt in the opposition box as the French international possesses some threat with his aerial ability on the pitch.
Raphael Varane has performed above average when we look at his stats and the defensive actions chart. The team will be looking to keep more clean sheets in the upcoming matches and expect their new signing to deliver with all the experience he possesses at the top level.
