Real Madrid News
Raphael Varane urges top clubs to ‘copy the Real Madrid model’
Raphael Varane, the former Real Madrid defender, has recently shared his thoughts on his football career, particularly emphasizing the model that Real Madrid has established and its importance for other top clubs.
Varane began his journey with Real Madrid in 2011 and spent an impressive ten seasons with the club before making the decision to transfer to Manchester United in the English Premier League.
Throughout his career, Varane has faced challenges with injuries, which ultimately led to his early retirement from professional football.
Earlier this year, his debut for Como was marred by a knee injury sustained during a Coppa Italia match against Sampdoria. This setback was significant, and in August, he decided to retire from the sport.
Real Mdarid’s model
Reflecting on his time at Real Madrid, Varane expressed gratitude for the opportunities the club provided, particularly in nurturing young talent.
“I was lucky to come to a club that gives young players time to learn at a very high level and mature physically,” he said as quoted by AS.
He noted how the club’s approach has benefited not only him but also fellow players such as Federico Valverde, Vinícius Jr., and Rodrygo.
“What they have done over the years, with me, with (Federico) Valverde, with Vinicius, with Rodrygo, is exceptional.
“All the big clubs should copy Real. The club extends training sessions, while in other places young players start earlier and earlier and get tired earlier and earlier,” he noted.
Jose Mourinho’s impact
He also recalled the club’s transformative journey during his time there. Varane highlighted the impact of managers like Jose Mourinho, who initiated significant changes, and Carlo Ancelotti, who further developed the team’s success.
He mentioned that the peak of his career coincided with the golden generation of players, with Zinedine Zidane as the head coach.
“Jose Mourinho started something huge. Ancelotti managed to turn it into something great and then we had the golden generation at its peak, with Zizou at the helm.”
Varane acknowledges the immense knowledge he gained under Zidane’s guidance, even though they did not always see eye to eye on various matters.
“He called me to Lens to sign for Real and that’s how I found him as a coach. I learned a lot from him, even though we didn’t always agree on everything,” he concluded.
Real Madrid were hit with a speed bump after their perfect start to the season, with Real Betis offering an important reality check to Jose Mourinho’s team.
After three wins from three to start the season, Madrid ran into a resolute Betis side at the Villamarin in a game where the ball simply refused to go in for them.
On the one occasion that it did, Carlos Espi’s sensational overhead strike was ruled out for a marginal offside.
Los Blancos lost the game 1-0 to the Andalusian side, but one of the few positives from the game was the continued good form of Arda Guler.
Even with the team struggling around him, the Turkey midfielder once again showed why he believes this could be the year he takes a major step forward under Jose Mourinho.
Guler making his opportunities count
According to AS, Guler remains convinced that working with Mourinho can accelerate his development and help him reach another level competitively.
His confidence comes at a time when his performances are making an increasingly strong argument for greater responsibility.
The numbers from the Betis defeat underline the kind of game the Turkey international had, despite the result not going his way.
Guler created seven chances, more than any other Madrid player, while also recovering five balls, the second-highest total among the team’s outfield players.
That made Mourinho’s decision to substitute him midway through the second half particularly perplexing.
The coach’s concern was Guler’s yellow card and the possibility of Madrid going down to 10 men. However, this is not the first time the 21-year-old has been removed despite playing well.
Against Espanyol, he was also substituted after around an hour despite assisting Jude Bellingham and being one of Madrid’s strongest performers.
Mourinho has a difficult decision
Guler remains Mourinho’s starting option in the right-wing role, but Yan Diomande’s presence creates obvious competition after Madrid invested €125 million plus bonuses to sign the Ivorian.
The encouraging part is that Guler appears determined to respond through performances rather than worry about the competition.
He is taking his chances and, at times, playing at a creative tempo his team-mates are struggling to match. That should strengthen his position rather than weaken it.
Guler believes Mourinho can help him develop and make a significant competitive leap this season. So far, there is reason to share that confidence.
The next stage is about turning impressive stretches into sustained influence over complete matches.
Guler’s on-pitch relationship with Mbappe is probably the best two-man relationship in the team at the moment.
So far, the Turk has done nothing wrong to make Mourinho consider dropping him, and it remains to be seen how many more minutes he gets with Diomande’s threat looming large.
