‘You’re not working in a foundry’ – Ex-Man Utd defender tells ‘whining’ Varane to become a ‘man’s man’
Paul Parker has told Manchester United defender Raphael Varane to “stop moaning” about the FA putting more demands on players this season.
Premier League matches are set to last comfortably longer than 100 minutes on average in the season ahead after referees in competitions worldwide were instructed by the game’s lawmakers to more accurately measure time lost to stoppages.
The approach was first adopted at the World Cup in Qatar last year where it was largely positively received, but Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne and Man Utd defender Varane have already highlighted the impact of such a move across a long domestic season.
Varane retired from international football at the age of 29 earlier this year, likening the demands of the top-level game to being in a washing machine, and said the new measure was “damaging” alongside an already-packed schedule of matches.
But former Man Utd defender Parker reckons Varane “should have a look at how few games he actually plays” and points out that the Frenchman is not “working in a foundry”.
Parker told MyBettingSites: “Stop moaning, Varane. Start concentrating and play as many games as possible.
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“You’re a footballer, you’re not digging roads or working in a foundry.
“The vast majority of the players are not complaining about the number of games. Managers are using it as an excuse when they have a bad time but if you’re a successful team you have to play a minimum 55 games per season and as a player you should be able to play every single game.
“It’s easy nowadays to fake an injury if you don’t want to play. He should try to play for a team in the bottom of the league because that takes a man’s man to fight week in and week out.
“When you’re playing at Manchester United and you’re whining about too many games you should look yourself in the mirror.”
Parker added: “Playing in the Championship, League One and League Two is tough. They are playing a lot of games.
“In the lower league they are playing more league games than Varane, they have their own individual cup competition, they have the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup and they are not moaning about the number of games.
“They still have mortgages to pay, they have a car to pay off and of course they have a family as well. Football is their life and everything they want to be is a footballer and they are working their ass off to become that.
“But the players in the Premier League are earning so much money and they don’t have to play every week. They are still getting their money and their life is already settled.
“In my opinion, a player like Raphael Varane who comes across to play in another country, should respect the league and find out what real football is actually like before he comes out with a statement like that.
“He should have a look at how few games he actually plays.”
