Casemiro at Manchester United- Move him forward, or move forward without him – Man United News And Transfer News

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Last season, as Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United blew past pre-season predictions after two damning early losses, one player was near the top of accolades.

Casemiro’s now iconic “Tell them I’ll fix it” became a mantra to die by for United fans as he did exactly what he said.

He arrived on deadline day, took some time to get used to English football, then became the rock in defence who nobody could get past while contributing the odd, key goal in attack.

The Brazilian instantly became a fan-favourite for his leadership qualities, better-than-advertised technical skill, and just by virtue of finally having a specialist defensive midfielder.

Fast forward to this season, and almost all of those traits have disappeared.

This season’s Casemiro is one who wanders around everywhere leaving his post, and by extension the midfield, empty.

He regularly lunges into ill-advised challenges, puts his team under unnecessary pressure while trying Hollywood passes, and just all-around, looks a shadow of his former solid self.

The only trait that hasn’t left Casemiro, and arguably has improved, is the goalscoring.

After 11 games played, the Brazilian unbelievably remains United’s top-scorer with four goals and an assist.

However, that has come at the cost of defensive fragility, a bargain Ten Hag would hardly agree to.

In fact, the goalscoring has become a double-edged sword for United. Like a lion who gets a taste of human blood and then goes hunting for it everywhere, Casemiro looks preoccupied with moving forward and making an impact in attack.

Looking at the heatmap of Casemiro above (courtesy of Sofascore), it is clear that he is trying to do too much in the attacking half of the pitch, at the cost of what he was brought to do in the defensive half.

Gary Neville once said something along the lines that the fact that the game has moved beyond you just hits you suddenly one day when you can’t get to balls you used to jog towards.

Currently, watching Casemiro is a similar experience. The sweeping-up job he used to do effortlessly last season is nowhere to be seen.

In its place is a desperate midfielder trying everything to stop the attacker from getting past him, including rash tackles.

It’s painful to accept it but what’s happening right now is a decline in real time, playing out on the field with every desperate tackle, missed interception, and lost positioning.

That was always going to be the danger with buying a player who had turned 30 and played some gruelling minutes in Real Madrid’s all-conquering era.

The decision is now up to Manchester United. The Brazilian has shown enough that he can be played further forward, freer from his defensive duties.

Because, if United don’t want to move him forward, they will have to move him on, or his performances will drag the team backwards.