Guardiola and ten Hag

After that, Manchester United's defensive options have been narrowed down to the absolute essentials.

United are currently in a position where they only have two center backs available for Thursday's match against Nicosia in Cyprus and likely for Sunday's match against Everton. This is despite the fact that they have spent approximately £230 million on center backs over the past seven summer transfer windows and have added a new one in five of those windows.

The transfer of Eric Bailly to Marseille on loan left Erik ten Hag with four senior center backs, but now two of them are injured and unable to play. Harry Maguire, England's captain, hasn't started a game since the team's 4-0 loss at Brentford due to an injury he sustained during the thrilling 3-3 draw between England and Germany during the international break. Raphael Varane had taken his place and appeared to be playing at his dominant best, but he was sidelined by injury once again during Sunday's disastrous loss in the derby.

The Frenchman exited the game after sustaining an ankle injury and being replaced by Erling Haaland, who scored the second goal uncontested after being left unmarked. Varane fought through United's 4-0 deficit despite the fact that he was no longer able to continue playing at that point. According to the information provided by our sources, his injury does not appear to be too serious. They have described it as "not bad."

Varane has had a significant amount of injury trouble since he arrived at Old Trafford, so the club is doing the right thing by remaining cautious. In the previous season, he was sidelined for 17 games due to a variety of injuries.

As a result, Ten Hag is down to just his trustee Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof, who has had limited playing time so far during this season. The Swedish player, who stood out more than most others during the previous season for having a solid enough campaign despite everything else falling apart around him, has likely been treated unfairly as a result of the lack of playing time.

Nevertheless, it is indisputable that Martinez and Varane were on their way to forming a productive partnership with one another before receiving a sobering reminder of the harshness of reality on Sunday. While the scrappy Martinez won fans' hearts with his tenacious tackling and incisive distribution, Varane was turning back the clock to his prime at Real Madrid with elegant and dominant displays. But that progress came to a screeching halt at the Etihad, where it appeared as though the entire back line had never played with one another before, as they were all out of sync with one another and City delightedly exploited the gaps.

Now, Lindelof has been given a second chance to reassert himself in the side and prove his worth. As Varane is expected to miss at least one game, and likely more, and Maguire is still sidelined, he will walk in alongside Martinez and have some time to demonstrate to the manager exactly what he is capable of doing.

Playing alongside Martinez might be beneficial for him as well. Because of his lack of physicality, Lindelof is not suited to be the member of the pairing that pushes up, which is one of the biggest problems with the defender. He has a tendency to push forward in an effort to win the ball, but he often gets caught out and leaves United vulnerable as a result. Martinez has thankfully taken up that mantle, and thanks to his dogged determination in regaining possession of the ball, he is now subjected to much less instances of having possession taken away from him. Lindelof can take over Varane's job of sitting back and cleaning up the danger in the event that it gets past Martinez, and as a result, he should hopefully be less exposed. Instead of being the presser, Lindelof can do this.

Although Lindelof is not as talented as Varane, he is significantly less likely to suffer an injury and is available for play on a more consistent basis. It's unfortunate, but at this point in his career, Varane simply cannot be counted on to play even 10 games in a row, which means that building a defense around him is a risky proposition, despite the fact that he is a quality defender.

If Lindelof is able to come in and continue the good work that Varane started alongside Martinez, then the spot could be his to claim even when the competition for places resumes. Martinez and Varane both started the work.