{"id":295218,"date":"2023-11-14T13:39:23","date_gmt":"2023-11-14T13:39:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/?p=295218"},"modified":"2023-11-14T13:39:23","modified_gmt":"2023-11-14T13:39:23","slug":"man-utd-hero-saha-claims-varane-now-being-scapegoated-after-sancho-saga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/man-utd-hero-saha-claims-varane-now-being-scapegoated-after-sancho-saga\/","title":{"rendered":"Man Utd hero Saha claims Varane now being &#8216;scapegoated&#8217; after Sancho saga"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Seven Man Utd transfers Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants answers for as trio set for January exits<\/h3>\n<p>Ex-Manchester United star Louis Saha believes that Erik ten Hag could be \u2018scapegoating\u2019 Raphael Varane following his recent absences. The defender has hardly featured for the Red Devils since returning from injury, with Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans both preferred as starting centre-backs.<\/p>\n<p>United have made a shaky start to the season, with their performances at both ends of the pitch failing to convince supporters that they are progressing. The Red Devils have struggled defensively, with injuries not helping Ten Hag\u2019s cause.<\/p>\n<p>With Luke Shaw, Lisandro Martinez and Tyrell Malacia among his absentees, the former Ajax boss has been forced to call upon his fringe players to step up and hold down the fort at the back. Varane was among those absentees for a short while, but the France international has since returned to full fitness.<\/p>\n<p>Despite being readily available, Varane has struggled for minutes and been forced to unfamiliarly warm the bench \u2013 with \u2018tactics\u2019 being cited by Ten Hag as the reason behind Maguire and Evans being selected more frequently than the ex-Real Madrid defender.<\/p>\n<p> <strong> Don&#8217;t miss&#8230; <\/strong> <strong>Cole Palmer risks wrath of Man City supporters as Chelsea star makes revelation[LATEST] <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/67\/590x\/secondary\/Raphael-Varane-clap-5065318.jpg?r=1699966321930\"><\/p>\n<p>Speaking about Varane\u2019s omissions, Saha has revealed that he has a suspicion that the 30-year-old could be being scapegoated by his manager \u2013 somewhat following in the footsteps of Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho, who have also felt the wrath of the United boss. He told Betfred: \u201cIt could be a breakdown in the relationship between player and manager. I know he\u2019s been injured often, but he needs to be given the chance to get back to his best after a spell out.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s true that everybody needs competition but you can\u2019t fiddle with the defence too much because that department provides you with a solid foundation. I don\u2019t understand why Rapha\u00ebl\u2019s been dropped, so maybe something\u2019s been said behind closed doors. It\u2019s as if he\u2019s being scapegoated in some way and I don\u2019t like it.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li> <svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"> <g clip-path=\"url(#clip0_1078_5986)\"> <\/path> <\/path> <\/g> <defs> <clippath> <rect width=\"23.4329\" height=\"23.4329\" fill=\"white\" transform=\"translate(0 0.134262)\"><\/rect> <\/clippath> <\/defs> <\/svg> Support fearless journalism<\/li>\n<li> <svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"> <g clip-path=\"url(#clip0_1078_5986)\"> <\/path> <\/path> <\/g> <defs> <clippath> <rect width=\"23.4329\" height=\"23.4329\" fill=\"white\" transform=\"translate(0 0.134262)\"><\/rect> <\/clippath> <\/defs> <\/svg> Read The Daily Express online, advert free<\/li>\n<li> <svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"> <g clip-path=\"url(#clip0_1078_5986)\"> <\/path> <\/path> <\/g> <defs> <clippath> <rect width=\"23.4329\" height=\"23.4329\" fill=\"white\" transform=\"translate(0 0.134262)\"><\/rect> <\/clippath> <\/defs> <\/svg> Get super-fast page loading<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/logo\/logo-premium-subscription.png\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/67\/590x\/secondary\/JSancho-5065317.jpg?r=1699966322116\"><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would understand the decision to drop him if there was another defender playing outstandingly well, but that\u2019s not the case. Nobody\u2019s really stood out. I respect the decision of the manager because you need to make changes when your team isn\u2019t playing well.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHowever, the defence is one area that you don\u2019t mess with because it can put stress on the goalkeeper, especially Andr\u00e9 Onana who\u2019s new to the Premier League. I don\u2019t understand what\u2019s happened with Rapha\u00ebl in the last couple of weeks to justify the reasoning for him being dropped.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It remains to be seen whether Varane continues to struggle for minutes and if he is eventually forced out of Old Trafford, amid interest from the Saudi Pro League. Following a public dispute with Ten Hag, Ronaldo left United last year and Sancho looks set to follow suit in the January transfer window after suggesting that he was being &#8216;scapegoated&#8217; by his manager after the Red Devils boss criticised his training levels.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/sport\/football\/1834843\/Man-Utd-news-Louis-Saha-Raphael-Varane-Jadon-Sancho\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Seven Man Utd transfers Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants answers for as trio set for January exits Ex-Manchester United star Louis Saha believes that Erik ten <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/man-utd-hero-saha-claims-varane-now-being-scapegoated-after-sancho-saga\/\" title=\"Man Utd hero Saha claims Varane now being &#8216;scapegoated&#8217; after Sancho saga\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":295217,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-295218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Man Utd hero Saha claims Varane now being &#039;scapegoated&#039; 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