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Does Manchester United succeed in shining without Casemiro?
Brazilian star Casemiro shone in his first season at Manchester United after his move from Real Madrid and was a staple of coach Ten Hag, but his form appears to have fallen and become a drag on the Red Devils this season 2023-24.
Casemiro is one of the best midfielders of his generation, which encouraged Manchester United to sign him last season, and was a direct reason why the Red Devils finished third in the Premier League and were crowned Carabao Cup winners with club legend Gary Neville calling it "devastating."
However, there was a warning about Neville's valuation and "The Overlap" said: "That £70 million and £20 million a year for five years is a £170 million investment and that's a huge investment, not a smart signature."
Casemiro, who turns 32 next February, was contracted until 2026, and there is an option to extend this agreement for an additional year, with the player Eric Ten Hag describing as "Cement between stones" is supposed to be the future of United's midfield, but Casemiro failed, during 11 games in the new season and the Red Devils lost 6 clashes with them, which is why they are now 10th in the Premier League table and face a real risk of exiting the Champions League group role.
Casemiro's level has fallen, causing major trouble for Ten Hag, and he may need to take drastic action if he is to revive United's fortunes in the coming weeks.
"I wanted more football."
United were on course for a third straight home defeat to Brentford, and the team fared poorly in the opening 45 minutes, but Casemiro was the worst of the players on the pitch.
It was his wrong pass to Brian Mbiomo that put Brentford ahead and he was also guilty of wasting the ball on many occasions and left Ten Hag with no choice but to replace him.
Casemiro was replaced at half-time, improving United's performance in the second half and Ten Hag continued to make changes as the game wore on, with Scott McTominay making a decisive impact in the end after Sofiane Amrabet was involved.
The Scotland midfielder scored twice in stoppage time to give United a decisive win and McTominay showed more enthusiasm within 10 minutes than most of his teammates had shown throughout the season, and his brilliance caused strong claims for a key spot after the international break.
It was not possible to consider Casemiro's disqualification last season, but there is now a real argument so United seem to be a stronger team without him and Ten Hag himself suggested this after the game, telling reporters when asked why Eriksen had involved him: "I wanted more football, a player who provided passes."
Casemiro has always been a strong striker, not dropping easily when he tries to stretch to recover the ball from the opponent but he looks much slower this season, and therefore the risk of making mistakes has risen.
The Manchester United star is no longer trying to intervene, scoring only 2.91 per 90 minutes so far this season down from 3.77. He has also won less than 50% of his individual duels according to Soccerment statistics and is only 0.69 interceptions per game compared to 1.43 in 2022-23. Casemiro simply does not do the job for which he was contracted.
Galatasaray manager admitted that his team had targeted Casemiro after their shock 3-2 Champions League win at Old Trafford, and Andre Onana was most responsible for the midfielder's red card in that clash, but his intervention was reckless.
Failure in his defensive and offensive role!
Brentford's game was the first of this season in which Casemiro was not asked to play alone in midfield as Amrarabt participated alongside him in a 4-2-3-1 plan and before that Casemiro was standing in front of the defence, with Bruno Fernandes and Mason Mount given free rein and support Marcus Rashford or Rasmus Hoilund.
The flaws in this plan were obvious despite United's unconvincing win at home to Wolverhampton, but the visitors were the superior team for 90 minutes and missed many chances. Manchester United's midfield was frequently breached, which Neville noted while covering the game for Sky Sports, the former United defender said: "Casemiro was completely torn tonight and Manchester United's midfield was not there, Wolverhampton is great while Manchester United's midfield is empty."
It was no surprise when United began to lose games, with Casemiro also appearing slow against Tottenham, Arsenal, Brighton and Crystal Palace and Amrambat's arrival should have eased some pressure on the £70 million Brazilian, but they offered no signs of a potential partnership.
Casemiro did not take advantage of being given extra freedom to attack because his passes were clueless and United could not afford to keep the Brazilian essentially going if they hoped to get their season back on track.
No excuses
Casemiro won MVP last September and is currently the team's top scorer in all competitions this season, with four goals, but this is more of a condemnation of the team as a whole than an achievement for Casemiro.
Two of his goals came in the 4-3 defeat to Bayern Munich in the first round of the Champions League, and others in the 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest in the league.
Casemiro's only good performance of the season so far came in United's 3-0 win over Crystal Palace in the third round of the Carabao Cup, which headed home a fine goal.
In fact, Tin Hag has not managed Casemiro well in recent weeks. The player was isolated due to constant adjustments in United's formation and failed to give him sufficient rest between games but there is no excuse for the low level of the Madrid legend He doesn't deserve to be a starter anymore, despite a recent win over Brentford. But United are in crisis and if they want to save their season, Casemiro must be temporarily excluded.
Next?
After the international break, United will return to two must-win games as they travel to face newly-promoted Sheffield United, who are looking for their first Premier League win, and then Copenhagen at Old Trafford in the Champions League.
Casemiro was called up to Brazil's final list, so he won't get a chance to rest in the next 10 days. And Ten Hag should take the chance of McTominay's brilliance, against Brentford and give him the chance to make a basic participation in the next United game, Amarabat is likely to retain his place and Kobe Maino could give the Red Devils another option in the middle of the pitch as well. The teen recently returned to training after a serious ankle injury and the 18-year-old shone in pre-season.
New faces will be needed if United are to achieve back-to-back victories Before you start preparations for the derby against Manchester City and if Casemiro gets some rest, He may succeed in assisting his team against the defending champions or his replacement against Sheffield and Copenhagen could make a strong enough claim to spark the Brazilian for a while and in both cases s life ", Ten Hag needs to make another bold decision in order to bring his team back to life.
Casemiro's transfer deal, Manchester United's huge looked like a bad decision and if he can't regain his previous form the Red Devils will look for another midfielder in January transfers.
