Raphael Varane is proving Erik ten Hag right at Manchester United

The same inevitable questions were asked when the Manchester United line-up dropped last night. 'What has Raphael Varane done wrong?' They were answered by the final whistle.

In his search for consistency, Erik ten Hag made just one change from the side that defeated Fulham at the weekend, with Marcus Rashford coming in to replace Antony. That might well have been the team at Craven Cottage had the England international not failed a late fitness test.

It meant that Jonny Evans and Harry Maguire remained at the heart of the defence, a duo that the manager feels he can trust despite their obvious limitations.

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In fairness, Maguire has been great in recent weeks and has been the club's best centre-back so far this season. Against all the odds, Evans has become the second.

It says so much that losing Evans to injury after just 16 minutes can be considered a blow right now, a damning reflection on the others in his position, as much as the ongoing injury crisis.

"I think it was a pity because he was part of it from that good part in the game where we were controlling, very composed and calm, it’s the way I see my team," Ten Hag said of Evans' withdrawal after the match. "We have more players and we have good players, so we have good replacements to solve that.”

Ten Hag is right that United have other options in central defence, the concern is over their own poor performance levels so far this season.

Ultimately, there is a reason why Real Madrid were happy to sell Varane two years ago, just as they were happy to sell Casemiro last year. While they built for the future with