sport news How Casemiro the talisman turned into a total liability for Erik ten Hag and ... trends now
When Casemiro was booked against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in January 2023, it immediately took the wind out of Manchester United’s sails.
Erik ten Hag’s side were a few minutes away from a 10th win in a row when their Brazilian kingpin was cautioned for a foul on Wilfried Zaha. Ten Hag and his teammates knew there and then that Casemiro would be banned for the trip to Arsenal four days later.
Visibly deflated, they conceded a late Michael Olise equaliser to Palace and then lost at the Emirates.
That’s how important Casemiro felt back then. A talisman for Ten Hag who was practically indispensable. ‘The cement between the stones,’ is how the United manager described him, and that didn’t feel like an understatement.
Fast forward 16 months and it looked like Casemiro was running in cement on his return to Selhurst Park, an even more miserable experience that ended with a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Olise and Co that has plunged Ten Hag’s future into even greater doubt.
Manchester United's Brazilian midfielder Casemiro endured a miserable evening in Monday's 4-0 defeat against Crystal Palace
Casemiro was cut to shreds by Crystal Palace's attackers as he struggled in an emergency centre-back role
The 32-year-old midfielder was ruthlessly exposed by the likes of Eberechi Eze (left)
The Brazilian starred for Man United during his debut season but has suffered in his second Premier League campaign
Deployed once again as an emergency centre-back in the absence of seven defenders, the 32-year-old midfielder was ruthlessly exposed. The statistics show that he was dribbled past eight times, which is the most challenges lost by a player in a single Premier League game this season.
The sight of the five-time Champions League winner flailing in the wake of Olise and Jean-Philippe Mateta as they fired Palace two goals ahead was sad to behold.
If Sir Jim Ratcliffe needed any more evidence to want to offload the club’s highest-earner in the summer, here it was.
Mail Sport revealed in December that even Casemiro couldn’t believe how much United were prepared to pay him when they made their approach in the summer of 2022, offering Real Madrid a £70million transfer fee and the player – then 30 – a four-year contract on
