-
Rob DawsonReporter
When Manchester United confirmed 70 million euros signed with Casemiro are from Real Madrid, he was hailed by director of football John Murtough as “one of the best midfielders in world football”. Manager Erik ten Hag hinted he was some kind of missing piece – “cement between the stones” – and, revealed ahead of a 2-1 win over rivals Liverpool at Old Trafford on August 22, Brazil international has been welcomed a hero.
But more than six weeks on, Casemiro has played just 82 minutes in the Premier League. He has yet to start a tournament game for his new club and when Ten Hag chooses which team to face City of Manchester at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, the 30-year-old was left on the bench.
As Pep Guardiola’s side tore Man United easily to a 4-0 lead in the first half, television cameras turned to the substitute’s bench to show Casemiro and his former team-mate. Real Madrid Cristiano Ronaldo bewildered. United supporters also have some skepticism as to how one of the world’s most experienced defensive midfielders could have been allowed to watch such an important game – a match that, in theory, could be. theory would match his strong point – from the sidelines.
Explain your decision after Defeat 6-3Ten Hag said he wants to keep faith with the team that have won four games in a row after a disastrous start to Brighton and Brentfordbut the manner of failure implies that he was wrong.
– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, MLS, more (US)
“On the day we signed him, we started to win and it was about the team,” said the Dutchman. “The team is doing great, it’s not against Casemiro. In this case, it’s Scott McTominay, he did great in the team and then we started racing. But I’m sure it will be very important to us in the long term and short term. He [Casemiro] will find themselves on the team but it has to come naturally. “
Ten Hag is set to make the changes following a humiliating defeat to Man City and Casemiro is likely to start against Omonia FC for the Europa League tie in Cyprus on Thursday. But the question remains as to why a five-time Champions League winner has to wait for his chance in the Europa League and not regularly feature in the best team of the year.
It has prompted former Man United defender Rio Ferdinand to suggest that Casemiro may have regretted his decision to move from Madrid to Manchester.
“I wonder what impact it would have on someone like him,” Ferdinand told his YouTube channel Five. “Yes, he has experience and nothing else, but he has to sit there and think, ‘wow, I feel a little disrespected here, with what I’ve done.” I’d be surprised if he didn’t feel the same way. “
Some fans argue that Casemiro was never Ten Hag’s choice. It doesn’t help United’s five major summer signings, he’s the weird one in that he has no connection to Ajax or the Dutch Eredivisie. Lisandro Martinez and Antony played under Ten Hag at Ajax; Christian Eriksena former Ajax player, trained with the Dutch giants while he recovered from a cardiac arrest; Tyrell Malacia signed from Feyenoord and will be on Ajax’s radar last summer if Ten Hag stays in Amsterdam.
Ten Hag is desperate for a No.6 midfielder and wants another Ajax player, Frenkie de Jongbut when the 85 million euro deal was proposed with Barcelona becoming too complicated, United turned their attention to Casemiro.
Sources have told ESPN that Murtough and technical director Darren Fletcher are impressed with Casemiro’s desire to move, especially against De Jong reluctantly leaves Barcelonabut while Ten Hag has agreed to pursue Casemiro – United managers can veto any transfer they disagree – the Brazilian is a very different player from De Jong, who wants to take pass and carry the ball.
The move between players with very different backgrounds has raised many questions about United’s transfer strategy and more importantly, it shows that Ten Hag is still trying to figure out what to do with the midfielder. his new.
“Every other club is really correct, you don’t see them circling like a ball in the transfer market, from club to club,” said the former United defender. Gary Neville told Sky Sports. “It’s De Jong, let [PSG’s Adrien] Rabiot and later became Casemiro in an extraordinary £160m signing by the club. I suppose when you’re desperate, you pay too much. “
1:20
Gab Marcotti and Don Hutchison debate whether Casemiro is a good fit for Erik ten Hag’s style of play.
People close to Casemiro insist his move to United has nothing to do with money and that he will only earn more than he currently does at Real Madrid if he can help the club return. Champions League again. For that, however, he needs to be on the team and while Ten Hag has said publicly that it’s up to the player to prove he should play in the biggest games, Ferdinand believes he Continued absences will also become a problem for the manager. as a player.
“These are the side plots that Ten Hag has to deal with”, former England said the guard. “This is what management is about, he has to manage that type of player, that type of ego, the pride that comes with these types of players.
“If you don’t play, you see a difference in the way they see you now and that’s what you have to manage. He [Ten Hag] doesn’t have those problems at Ajax with the players he has, he has a lot of control, is the master of the universe there. Here you have big egos to deal with and this is the task when you come to a top club. “
Along with Ronaldo and other players in need of a match, Casemiro is expected to have a rare chance to impress in Nicosia this week, but the real test of his condition will come when Ten Hag names his team to face Everton on Sunday.
That’s the kind of game – fast and fierce, played in a hostile atmosphere at Goodison Park – that should suit an experienced player and his composure. But the same was true of the Manchester derby and Casemiro was forced to watch much of the game from the bench.
