This season, Casemiro’s performances have been poor due to a sharp decline in interceptions and his propensity to be easily overlooked by opponents.
Casemiro’s bad season start and decision-making have both been criticized by Jamie Carragher.
Due to Casemiro’s expensive pay and the player’s restricted selling possibilities given his age and current market worth, Manchester United may have trouble handling the situation.
Erik ten Hag, the manager of Manchester United, already had to deal with Jadon Sancho and Antony, but he may soon have to deal with even another problem. The team’s performance in the Premier League has already caused serious concerns, and the Dutch manager wasn’t helped by a humiliating loss to Brighton last weekend, which once again brought up a significant question regarding one of his key players.
Casemiro offered the kind of winning understanding and experience this United team needed under Ten Hag when he joined from Real Madrid in 2022 for a staggering £70m. Despite the eye-watering cost, he certainly delivered in his first full season with the team. For a player used to winning the biggest trophies year in and year out, a Carabao Cup victory and a top-four finish made for a relatively successful season. It was undoubtedly hoped that his second season in English football would see him establish himself as the best holding midfielder in the league.
Instead, his start to the current campaign has been, at best, utterly underwhelming and, at worst, unsettling. Sky Sports analyst Jamie Carragher criticized the midfielder’s performance and questioned Ten Hag’s tactics after United’s loss to Tottenham earlier this season.
Comparing Casemiro’s statistics from this year to those from his first season in English football, when he probably established himself as United’s most important player, Carragher’s appraisal of how poorly Casemiro has started this season is definitely evident. To put it mildly, the decline between then and now is disturbing.
Everything you need to know about Casemiro’s decline this season can be found in the table above. The interceptions and dribbles past per game stats are possibly the most shocking ones. The midfielder is currently making exactly half as many interceptions as he did last season, and he is also being easily passed in the middle of the park — in fact, he has been dribbled past 13 times in the first five Premier League games, which is the most of any player in the league.
In addition to Carragher, former Arsenal player Martin Keown chimed in with the opinion that Ten Hag was failing Casemiro rather than the other way around. After a 3-1 loss at the Emirates, the Gunners veteran questioned the tactics of the United manager, claiming that the midfielder was being “left on his own to deal with the flood of opposition players.” The Red Devils manager appears to be putting himself up for failure if he plays the seasoned star in the engine room alone, and a significant choice needs to be made to assist one of his most trusted players.
The Brazilian, who is one of Old Trafford’s best earners and is said to make £300k per week by Spotrac, will be challenging to manage over the next few years. Given the size of the contract, very few clubs worldwide would be able to sign Casemiro, leaving United with the choice of either being trapped with him if he continues to regress or having to cut up his contract and facing a significant financial damage.
Sofyan Amrabat was acquired by United from Fiorentina in the waning seconds of the summer transfer window, and if he performs well this year, he could eventually offer the team a long-term solution. But a huge issue remains over what it would mean for Casemiro and his big salary. Although it’s debatable whether the Brazilian would personally desire to transfer to Saudi Arabia, the Middle Eastern country has already demonstrated its willingness to pay players exorbitant sums of money to lure them away from the Premier League.
The second consideration is, of course, the amount of money United would be able to get back for him given his advanced age—the former Real Madrid star is now 31 and has beyond his prime working years. His current market value, according to Transfermarkt, is only £35m, or exactly half of what the Red Devils spent for him just last summer. It is quite unlikely that the club will receive even a fraction of that money.
In the end, the key question at the moment is whether Casemiro’s early-season troubles are only a passing ailment or a long-term indication of decline. The last thing Ten Hag needs from the Brazilian, who is meant to be one of his reliable players, is for him to add to the headaches he already has at Old Trafford if United keep playing the way they have so far.
