‘There is a little less room for creativity’ – Raphaël Varane reflects on the modern game

Raphaël Varane (30) has reflected on the growing homogeneity in football but believes that it has led to a higher quality game. 

Varane is no longer the young prospect who broke through the RC Lens academy fourteen years ago to join Real Madrid after only twenty-four appearances for the French club. Since then he has seen almost all the glory that the game has to offer on a path that saw him at one stage become widely considered one of the best defenders in the world. 

He won league titles, domestic trophies, and four Champions Leagues across his decade-long stay in the Spanish capital, as well as a World Cup winners medal with France in 2018. However, success has been less easy to come by since his move to Manchester United in 2021, and Varane has since struggled with his fitness. 

Speaking to the VAL Foot podcast about his career so far, the defender mentioned how the game has changed a lot since he first broke onto the scene. “ There is a little less room for creativity, there are fewer number 10s. There are no longer spaces between the lines .” 

When he first joined Madrid, he was in a team that included the likes of Kaká and Mesut Özil. However, by the time he left the club, there was a growing focus across the sport on tactical systems over individual brilliance; and at times on managers over players. 

Varane continued, “ There is less dribbling, less touches than before. But the general level is rising, there is no longer an ‘easy match’ at all. It takes a lot of effort to move the pieces into place. ” As a result, it has created a game where there is a lot less variance within matches, but the quality on offer continues to improve. 

GFFN | Nick Hartland