Despite a home win against Fulham to kick off their campaign, it’s not been the best of starts for Manchester United in the Premier League this season.
Erik ten Hag’s side followed up that win over the Cottagers with a 2-1 away defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion, which they then compounded with a disastrous 3-0 home loss against bitter rivals Liverpool.
Several starters have been notably poor for the Red Devils in the last couple of games, but Casemiro has stood out for all the wrong reasons.
The Brazilian’s poor end to last season has seemingly continued into this one, and it’s starting to look like the club may have sold the wrong midfielder last summer.
Casemiro’s poor form
Now, the first thing to say is that during his first campaign with the club, Casemiro was excellent, with former United star Gary Neville naming him as his signing of the season at the end of the 22/23 campaign. However, a year is a long time in football; in the case of the 32-year-old, that couldn’t be more true.
For example, towards the end of last season, instead of winning personal accolades, Jamie Carragher advised him to “leave the football before the football leaves you” and to consider joining either the Saudi Pro League or Major League Soccer.
He ended up staying at Old Trafford over the summer, and while the opening game of the season was encouraging, the same issue around his mobility, or lack thereof, and awareness resurfaced. After a shocking first half against Liverpool on Saturday, he was taken off at halftime and replaced by 20-year-old Toby Collyer.
In all, it’s clear now that the São José dos Campos-born star can no longer help the team in attack or defence. Therefore, he has to be sold in January, especially as the club already sold a midfield star last year who looks like he’d be far more useful than Casemiro this season.
Fred’s Turkish resurgence
Yes, the player in question who’d surely be an upgrade on this current version of Casemiro is fellow Brazilian Fred, who was sold to Fenerbahçe for about £13m last August.
Now, before the pitchforks come out, we are not saying that the 31-year-old is the answer to United’s midfield problems, but after last season and the start to this one, it’s hard to deny that the club would have been better off keeping him for at least one more season and selling his older compatriot to Sarı Kanaryalar instead last summer.
For example, the former Red Devil made 35 appearances for his new club last season, scoring three goals, providing eight assists, and playing a pivotal role in their incredible title fight with Galatasaray, which ultimately ended with them finishing in second place with a mammoth 99 points.
|
Fred’s Fenerbahçe record |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Season |
23/24 |
24/25 |
|
Appearances |
35 |
4 |
|
Goals |
3 |
3 |
|
Assists |
8 |
1 |
|
Goal Involvements per Match |
0.31 |
1.00 |
|
All Stats via Transfermarkt |
||
He’s seemingly just picked up where he left off last season. In fact, with his old boss José Mourinho now in charge, the Belo Horizonte-born midfielder has become even more effective, scoring a hatrick and providing one assist in just four appearances for the Turkish giants this term.
Ultimately, it looks like the “extremely valuable” star, as dubbed by former manager Ralf Rangnick, still has plenty left in the tank to play at a reasonably high level, while Casemiro looks totally finished.
Therefore, while he wouldn’t have been the long-term answer, United may well rue selling the wrong Brazilian last summer.
