Former defender Rio Ferdinand believes Manchester United centre-back Raphael Varane will be calling on the support of his team-mates to help him enjoy a much more fruitful campaign at Old Trafford this forthcoming season.
Varane, who joined United last August from Spanish giants Real Madrid, experienced a difficult first season in England, making just 29 appearances in all competitions. The 29-year-old was cursed with bad luck on the injury front, meaning his longest sequence of consecutive Premier League appearances stood at just eight matches.
As soon as he recovered from one injury, he picked up another, resulting in him being unable to get into any sort of rhythm. When present, United did look better defensively, highlighted by the fact that they only lost four Premier League games with him, opposed to eight without him.
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United also conceded four or more goals on five occasions in the league last term and Varane missed all of those matches. However, Ferdinand believes the Frenchman, even when he was available, struggled to produce his best levels because of the shift in mentality he had experienced from his trophy-laden spell in the Spanish capital.
"He went from one team, the honours there tell you it was a functioning team at the top level, all the players playing to their maximum consistently, and went into an absolute reverse situation where the team has zero functionality, no confidence, no guidance and no structure of where they're going," said Ferdinand, speaking on Vibe with Five.
"He went into an alien scenario where he's going, 'I have not seen this since youth team football'. To go from that world-class operating and culture and standard on a daily basis to what is at Manchester United is a huge, huge shift.
"He's probably sitting there like a rabbit in the headlights thinking, 'Wow, what is this?' He hasn't been the player we expected him to be when he came here, he would tell you that, he couldn't tell you anything else.
'I think he'll be saying, 'I've got to up levels next year, I need help, I need team-mates'.
"He's probably realised, because as players when you're at your best form and you're winning, sometimes the ego talks loud, 'I'm a massive part of why we are what we are'. When really, you all need each other as much as one another, you need teammates to be the best."
Varane enjoyed no shortage of success in Madrid, winning 18 major trophies in total, including four Champions League titles. However, Ferdinand has outlined the importance of big-name players needing the support of their colleagues to be successful.
"[Lionel] Messi, [Cristiano] Ronaldo, [Zinedine] Zidane, Ronaldinho, these players do not do what they do without team-mates," he added. "When they accept these accolades and these awards they always thank team-mates straight away because they know that, you need them, without them you're not the superstar and the figure you are."
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