The Untimely Demise of a True Champion
There is no denying that Casemiro is one of this generation’s best midfielders. The man has 21 trophies in his cabinet. Including five Champions Leagues, three FIFA Club World Cups, three UEFA Super Cups, three La Liga titles, three Spanish Super Cups, a Copa del Rey, a Carabao Cup, an FA Cup, and a Copa America with Brazil.
He is a living legend.
In his first season at United, the trio of Bruno, Eriksen and Casemiro were unstoppable. I agree with the guys on the ARD pod that, for at least two to three months of the 22/23 season we had the best midfield in the Premier League. I also firmly believe that Casemiro is the main reason we won the Carabao Cup.
However, Casemiro’s second and third seasons at United are a stark contrast to that fateful first year.
He has struggled with injuries, fitness and form. To add to Manchester United’s problems, his performances are not conducive to his wages. On $350k per week, he is United’s highest earner. That is $50k more than Bruno and Rashford, the clubs next two highest earners (who are also not earning their paychecks).
This has led many fans to question the merits of keeping Casmiro and how he should be utilized now that he will stay a United player, at least until January.
Age is But a Number
The consensus around Casemiro’s demise is that he’s is getting old. He’s lost a step. He has too many high octane miles under his belt. Or my personal favorite, Luke Shaw introduced him to the meat pies at Pieminister in downtown Manchester.
I for one, believe that Casemiro still has a lot to offer this team. At 32, he isn’t that old in modern day sporting terms. There are countless examples of players who have played at the highest level well into their 30s. Zlatan turned 35 shortly after he joined United. Luka Modric is 38 and still running Real Madrid’s midfield. Kevin De Bruyne is 33 and considered by many to the be the best midfielder in the Premier League.
Age is not Casemiro’s problem.
Has he lost a step or two, yes. Does he have a lot of miles under his belt, yes. But as many of his predecessors have shown, for players who have as high of a football IQ as Casemiro, those miles equate to wisdom. That wisdom and IQ compensate for a loss of pace.
Think Paul Scholes coming out of retirement at 36 to guide United to his 11th Premier League title. Wayne Rooney shifting into midfield later in his career to dominate games. Or the evergreen Michael Carrick, who at 43 recently played in a charity match at Old Trafford and looked like he could still run our midfield like a boss.
Casemiro is of that ilk. He has the wisdom to compensate for his physical limitations. Confidence in him from the manager, patience from the fans, and game time will help him make that adjustment.
What Has Gone Wrong for Casemiro?
But, we are clearly not seeing that wisdom transferred onto the pitch, yet. Thus, fans and pundits are more than justified to ask, what has gone wrong for the Brazilian?
An yet, there may be more than one answer to that question.
Because of the 2022 winter World Cup, Casemiro ran himself raggad after playing more than 60 matches for club and country in the 22/23 season. So, it is not surprising that off of the back of so many matches, last season Casemiro missed 83 days of football through a combination of injuries, illnesses, and suspension. That equates to 17 missed matches last season.
What makes missing that many games even worse, is that they were not consecutive. He would miss a few games because of knock, then come back for a month. Or, he would pick up a suspension from a red card and miss three matches. Then after being back for a handful of games he would pick up a muscle strain and miss a few more, etc…
It was an exhausting 22/23 season for Casemiro followed by a stop start 23/24 season. The one thing that any player needs to find form is consistent minutes, without being overplayed. A problem not unique to Casemiro.
The mental and physical strain an athlete has to endure when they can’t string together more than a handful of matches leads exactly to these kind of cyclical injury issues, as well as the lack of fitness that leads to the kind of poor decision making that gets you red carded. And that’s before the meat pies take their toll.
Has Casemiro Checked Out?
Many of Casemiro’s biggest critics would say that he is basically in early retirement. He makes Β£350,000 per week before bonuses. If he fulfills specific performance standards on a weekly basis he gets an additional Β£100,000 bonus per week. His contract at United is worth close to Β£24,000,000 per year.
What’s more, United doubled his wages from when he came to the club from Real Madrid. Some would suggest that he only came to Old Trafford for the money. And knowing that no one else will pick up those kind of wages, he is happy to ride his contract out and collect his pay day.
I think that these people are not giving Casemiro enough credit. Maybe I am naive to believe this, but I think he has way more class than that. I do think that looking at in the context of a footballer, he wants to make as much money as possible. Which is reasonable for athletes because their careers are so short.
So many athletes across sports have spoken about how maximizing their income while they can still play is not down to greed, it’s part of a long term vision to ensure that no matter what happens after life in sport, they can still support their families and their philanthropy.
I also think that Casemiro wouldn’t have performed so well in his first season if he was only in it for the money. The manager has also seen enough character and leadership in him to make him United’s vice captain, despite his poor run of form. And It is probably a safe assumption that no one becomes the kind of serial winner that he is by checking out at 32.
But, again, that might be my wide-eyed, rose tinted perspective.
In a Team You are Only as Good as the Man Next to You
A majority of Casemiro’s critics are quick to judge his latest form against his Real Madrid days. Which is extremely unfair. At Real he was apart of one of the greatest midfield trios to ever grace a pitch. Casemiro, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos, all in their prime, are the reason Real were so dominant during that era.
Along with Casemiro, Kroos and Modric are two of the greatest midfielders of their generation.
I love Bruno, Eriksen, Mount, Ugarte, and Mainoo. I was also a big Scott Mctominay fan. And I really wanted things with Donny Van de Beek to work. But none of those players comes close to comparing to Kroos or Modric. Bruno is unequivocally our best player, and I still think he is miles away from both.
You are only as good as the men playing next to you.
At Real Madrid, playing in midfield triangle with Modric and Kroos, he had two of the most visionary players in the game to conduct the match while he could focus on shielding the defense, breaking up play, and making late runs into the box.
My point is, at Real, Casemiro’s job was boiled down to a very simple profile that played directly to his strengths. At United he is being asked to be a swiss army knife in a midfield that has lacked vision and tactical awareness since his first season at Old Trafford.
Are Erik ten Hag’s Tactics Shortchanging Casemiro
There is an argument to be made that the major problem with Casemiro is less the individual, and more the system and players United are utilizing.
In his first season at United he looked unplayable. We also had an inform Bruno and an inform Eriksen to play the conductor rolls of Modric and Kroos. Thus, Casemiro’s job was boiled down to late runs into the box, breaking up opposition play and shielding the defense, just like at Real.
However, with all of United’s injuries last season, everyone’s form fell off a cliff. Including Bruno and Eriksen. Meaning when Casemiro played, he was asked to become a swiss army knife. In defense he was asked to break up play, shield the back line, cover the space between the fullback and central defender, and cover far post runs. In transition he was expected to win the ball back and direct matches. And in attack he was asked to provide balls into the attacking players and make secondary runs to free up space for other attackers.
It is a completely different job than he has been asked to do for most of his career. He is essentially playing as a number 8 rather than a 6. I think he is being asked too much of. He isn’t a multi tool, like Carrick. He is a blunt force instrument, like Keane.
What’s more, it is his inability to play that kind of roll that has led to the countless examples, from both this and last season, of him being out of position and making critical mistakes. You have to let Casemiro be Casemiro.
Can Casemiro Get Back into the Team?
If I am correct in assuming that class does indeed supersede age, then Casemiro should be able to re-find a level where he can still be effective at Manchester United. On his day I still recon he is our second best midfielder, behind Bruno.
Unfortunately, those days will be fewer and further in between for him. United are flush for midfield options at the moment.
Ugarte has looked like a great acquisition and has hit the ground running. Mainoo’s emergence is causing all of United’s senior midfielders to look over their shoulders. Mount is fit again and has energy for days. Bruno is our captain, so regardless of form, he starts if he is available. And Eriksen is finding a lovely vein of form just when United need inspiration.
That puts Casemiro sixth in the pecking order at United, with only academy graduates Dan Gore and Toby Collyer behind him.
Needless to say, it will take either a herculean effort or a lot of injuries to get him back in the starting lineup every week. He may need need to learn to be an impact bench player for the remainder of his time at our club.
What Next for Casemiro?
The biggest problem with this situation is, the arrival of Ugarte means that even if Casemiro falls back into good graces with the manager and the fans, it is still unlikely he will play every week.
To me, and probably to INEOS, the highest paid player on the team, the club’s vice captain, needs to play every week. Otherwise they are a huge waste of money. This was always going to turn into a problem when you give a 30 year old player a five year deal and astronomical wages.
Despite how much I love Casemiro, I again find myself agreeing with Alex and John on the pod. His was a bad deal. A deal that is one of the few remaining remnants of a long history of equally as poor deals from United’s previous executive team and the Glazers.
I do believe that Casemiro is on borrowed time. Barring a miraculous return to his peak INEOS will likely sell him at their first opportunity.
However, United shopped Casemiro to any team that would listen over the summer. In the end they couldn’t get anyone to take him. Not even on loan. Even the exhibitionistic Saudi League wouldn’t spring for him, which should tell you all you need to know.
That is unlikely to change anytime soon. Leaving United with a player taking up a huge chunk of the wage bill that is potentially going to sit on the books and on the bench for the next two years, eventually leaving on a free when his contract expires.
I can only hope in that two years he re-discovers his best form and can contribute to the team again. Ideally sooner than later. He is too great a player to be considered any team’s dead weight.
Glory, Glory Man United!
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