FRENCH YOUNGSTER AIMS FOR THE TOP WITH REAL MADRID

Raphael Verane completed his £8.5 million move to Real Madrid during the summer, having played just 23 first team games for French outfit, Lens.

He had also only just completed his high-school economics paper.

After being pursued by Manchester United for months, as well as being monitored by many more top sides across Europe, it was Zinedine Zidane – now an ‘advisor’ for Madrid – that actively encouraged the move to theBernabeu. The French legend convinced Jose Mourinho and Florentino Perez to make sure they made the youngster wear the famous white shirt.

Highly-rated he may be, but in terms of experience, Varane is a complete novice. So, the question as to whether he can make the huge step up is very much on the agenda.

At 18-years-old, with just a handful of league games under his belt, many are asking if Verane made his first big career move too soon.

The fact that Real already have an abundance of options in central defence; Pepe, Carvalho, Sergio Ramos and Albiol – means he may have limited chances of playing regularly in the immediate future.

Varane’s rise to the top began after impressing the Lens coaching staff with assured performances beyond his years. He ascended through the youth teams, even playing for the club’s under-19s despite being two years younger than some of his team mates. Lens’ youth coach Eric Assadourian described Varane as a “truly first class player” who is “comfortable on both the tactical and technical level.”

Such praise from his youth mentors convinced first-team manager, Jean-Guy Wallemme to call him into the senior side’s training sessions. In November 2010, the French youngster with Martiniquais heritage got his break when Lens suffered a defensive injury crisis.

Verane made his debut against Montpellier, earning praise from his team mates for his impressive performance. He continued to start for the side, even moving into defensive midfield and looking equally as comfortable.

In his first season at Lens, Varane had shown that he was more than capable of becoming a truly special player. Possessing strength in the air, speed, positional awareness and elegant grace on the ball – he has been likened to former France captain Marcel Desailly.

These qualities show just why Real Madrid made their move. But just how successful can he be?

You would have to say that, with playing time, he could go on to be one of the world’s top defenders. However, with regular football unlikely at present – he has made only two appearances so far – there are question marks about the wisdom of moving to a club with so much competition.

After all, he has stepped up from a failing French side to one of the world’s leading football clubs – that is not an easy thing to do, and the pressure is on.

A likely option for both parties is that Varane makes a loan move to another club to help aid his development as a player. This, currently, seems to be the best outcome for the French under-21 international. He needs game time if he is to continue progressing as he has done over the past year or so, and that seems to be the only way he will achieve that.

To add to the dilemma however, Spanish daily Marca have reported that certain Real youth coaches are unhappy that Varane is leapfrogging home-grown defenders such as Nacho and David Mateos. Despite this, it is clear that Real Madrid and Jose Mourinho have faith in him.

When he signed for the club, it was on a six year deal – highlighting just how highly regarded he is for the club’s future.

Whether he stays and fights seasoned internationals for a first-team place, or makes a loan move, Varane simply needs to be playing football. He is far too talented to sit on a bench week in, week out wasting his talent.

Jose Mourinho will have plans for him, that is certain.

Verane’s former coach Wallemmesummed up the player’s situation perfectly when he said: “Real Madrid are not crazy, they would have looked at the market for young central defenders and decided that there aren’t many of Varane’s calibre.

“Apart from his tremendous abilities, he’s amazingly calm, intelligent and a great listener. He faces a huge challenge at Real, but if anyone can make it, it’s him.”

There is a feeling that he can’t be held back much longer, and wether it is at the Bernabeu or out on loan, Raphael Verane is sure to  carry on his meteoric rise to the top of the game.

GUARDIOLA: “THE NEXT THREE GAMES ARE A DANGEROUS PHASE”

“What we’re waiting until the end of the year is fascinating, and it all starts winning tomorrow,” said FC Barcelona coach, Pep Guardiola, who described the match against Getafe on “vital and fundamental”

Getafe, Levante Ray and cross into the path of the boat before the visit to the Bernabeu. Then came the great event of the end of year: the World Club Cup in Japan. Guardiola knows that to get the classic live, your team must win the next three league games. ”This is a very dangerous stage and we have to focus. We put a lot of mental effort to not allow ourselves to points along the way,” he said.

Although the coach of Barça victory account for visits to the Coliseum Alfonso Perez, warned that the team of Luis Garcia, as always, will not easy.”The coach who now heads the Getafe is the one that was on the east coast last year, and we had a hard time beating the two parties. It’s a team that has been bolstered this year and are at that stage to finish adjusting the parts, but the things I do do well, “he argued Guardiola, who stressed that all Madrid is better than showing the classification, it” has lost many games and tied in the final minutes. ”

In Getafe, Barca travel without Andres Iniesta, also in San Siro absent because of a bruised left thigh suffered in the last league match against Zaragoza. Guardiola said that Iniesta “is nothing serious,” but “not just be fine” and prefers to reserve “given what we have before Christmas and then in January when we will play most of the Cup.”

Nor will travel to Madrid his assistant Tito Vilanova, recovering from surgery who underwent the last Wednesday in the parotid gland. ”He’s following the usual steps in a post-operative, but is encouraged. He is strong and this will make you even stronger,” Guardiola said after visiting the Thursday at the Hospital Vall d’Hebron.

DEFENSE OF THREE

One of the questions will be whether in Getafe, Barcelona will play to the defense of three, which has suffered more than the account in the latest appointments, or return to the four. In this sense, Guardiola recalled that at San Siro, after 37 minutes, his players “had been shot five times at one meter Abbiati” thanks to the offensive power of 3-4-3. ”With three back we have never lost, but the day we lose I have assumed that up to give me an ID card,” he added.

Guardiola also praised the renewal until 2015 Barcelona B midfielder Jonathan dos Santos: “Barça could not miss.’s A player too good, too high to go so young (21 years) from here.”

Finally, the Barça coach downplayed the fact that goalkeeper Iker Casillas, captain of the Spanish team Jose Mourinho has voted, Vicente del Bosque and André Villas-Boas as coach of the year.

“The three that voted are fantastic. And everyone is entitled to vote for whomever you please, just be missing,” he said Pep Guardiola.

Chelsea v Liverpool: five things we learned

André Villas-Boas is under increasing pressure while big-money signings are still struggling to settle at both clubs

Luis Suárez, the best of the big-money signings on show at Stamford Bridge, was in impressive form for Liverpool. Photograph: Nick Potts/PA

1 André Villas-Boas is already a manager under pressure

It was arguable that, given the summer transfer outlay, Kenny Dalglish should have come into this fixture as the manager under greater scrutiny. But in ensuring he has now gone 12 matches unbeaten against Chelsea while in charge of Liverpool he left the focus fixed on André Villas-Boas. The 34-year-old has never experienced toils quite this troubling in his fledgling managerial career. Chelsea had never lost successive home league games under Roman Abramovich’s ownership, though three defeats in four league matches is squeezing confidence at the club. Of course, Villas-Boas is charged with more than short-term success. He has to rejuvenate the team while the squad continues to evolve – transfer policy is aimed at more youthful recruits these days – which can only be a long-term project. He needs time to impose his ideas and make his influence properly felt. But Chelsea are understandably terrified of ever failing to qualify for the Champions League. Those fears did for Luiz Felipe Scolari in the winter of 2009, though the Brazilian dropped only seven points in his first 12 games in charge. The Portuguese has shed twice as many in the same time.

2 The days of Chelsea’s stingy defence are long gone

To suggest Chelsea are not as watertight as they once were is hardly revelatory. The runaround Arsenal administered here this month in plundering five proved as much, as does the sorry tally of two clean sheets in the Premier League to date all term. Yet this team are contriving to concede increasingly ridiculous goals. Petr Cech’s implausible throw to Mikel John Obi just after the half‑hour provided Liverpool with their opener, Charlie Adam’s snapped tackle and Craig Bellamy’s awareness duly cutting a swath through panicked defenders. The ease with which Glen Johnson glided past Ashley Cole and Florent Malouda for the winner was ridiculous. Chelsea may be experimenting with a more attacking approach but they have conceded 17 times in 12 games this season, two more than they did in the entirety of José Mourinho’s first season at the club. And Alex, a tower of strength in the blanks achieved at Stoke City and Blackburn Rovers in two of his three appearances this season, was not even in the 18-man matchday squad here.

3 Liverpool are still a work in progress

This was a result for Dalglish to savour, a victory to make the rest of the division sit up and take real notice. Yet, as his team contemplate a nine-match unbeaten run that has put them level on points with fourth place, there will be frustration at the wastefulness that has ensured Manchester City remain so distant at the top. Had Liverpool prevailed in matches they would have expected to win – most notably at home to Swansea City, Norwich City and Sunderland, but also even against Manchester United and Stoke City in games they dominated – they would be title contenders. Their unbeaten sequence suggests consistency, though that is deceptive. They are a team capable of startling results but they remain a work in progress. Even so, under Dalglish, the future feels decidedly bright again.

4 Big money arrivals are still to settle at both clubs

The dust has settled on the frenzied transfer dealings involving these clubs on the final day of the mid-winter window in January but Liverpool and Chelsea are still waiting to see any real return on their money. Andy Carroll and Fernando Torres began this match as £85m worth of substitutes, the pair granted a combined eight minutes to impress. Throw in Jordan Henderson and Stewart Downing, who began on the visitors’ bench, and Raul Meireles among the home replacements at the start, and there are plenty of new arrivals waiting to settle. Yet it is the forwards’ toils that hog the limelight. Torres and Carroll have now contributed seven goals in 41 Premier League games between them since leaving their previous clubs. Villas-Boas had been quick to praise the Spaniard in the build-up to this contest with former employers, only to leave him out. That said much. As did the decision to introduce Daniel Sturridge at the break rather than the £50m record signing.

5 Yet there was one solid signing on deadline day

The best piece of business achieved on the eve of the closure of the January transfer window still feels as if it was Luis Suárez’s £22m signing from Ajax. The Uruguayan has concerns off the pitch, with a Football Association charge for racially abusing Patrice Evra hanging over him, but his form is impressive. He was at his best slipping Craig Bellamy and Dirk Kuyt, such willing runners, through Chelsea’s obligatory high line in the opening period with clever reverse passes aplenty. His involvement in the rat-a-tat of passes that pre-empted Maxi Rodríguez’s goal was almost inevitable. The striker was not involved in Johnson’s winner here, but that was bizarre: he feels integral to every attack this Liverpool team muster at present.