Is Casemiro past his best?

Manchester United signed Casemiro from Real Madrid two years ago, paying a sum of **** to secure his services. There could be no question about the pedigree of the Brazilian midfielder, frequently labeled as the best in the world in his position at the time.

It was a very fruitful year for Los Blancos, with its peak obviously being the 1-0 triumph over Liverpool in the Champions League final, which meant Casemiro had just won his fifth trophy in the most prestigious competition in club football. Just over two months later, he left the club to join United as Erik ten Hag sought reinforcements of note to try and compete more seriously against Manchester City, as well as Liverpool, in the Premier League.

Fast forward two years, and Casemiro has now allowed himself to be arguably the worst performer on the pitch as United suffered a 3-0 hammering at the hands of Liverpool at Old Trafford. Pairing up with English talent Kobbie Mainoo in the middle of the park, he first gave the ball straight to the opposition and sparked their move towards Andre Onana’s goal, ending with Luis Diaz getting on the end of a Mohamed Salah cross to break the deadlock in the 35th minute. Just seven minutes later, Casemiro was caught on the ball by Diaz, who easily dispossessed him and ended up both starting and finishing an attack to double Liverpool’s lead. The game was arguably lost for United already at that point, and the former Real Madrid star was obviously the main culprit.

Of all six midfielders who started the game for either team, Casemiro had the poorest pass completion rate at just 73%, 20 less than Liverpool’s Alexis Mac Allister who topped that chart in the game. With that in mind, Ten Hag’s decision to withdraw Casemiro from the game at halftime was completely understandable.

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What makes it even more humiliating for the 75-cap Brazil international is the fact that there were no proper options for his position on the bench, and he still had to come off, making way for 20-year-old Toby Collyer – with all due respect to the latter’s potential, he simply wasn’t able to provide Ten Hag’s team with the kind of spark they needed to get back into the contest. Maybe things would’ve been different had Manuel Ugarte been able to step in, but the Uruguayan, who only joined the club from Paris Saint-Germain two days before, reportedly wasn’t fit enough to play so soon.

There were claims that Casemiro left the stadium straight after his withdrawal from the match, and they made the anger of the home supporters even more pronounced, before they were eventually dispelled by Ten Hag who said he had spoken to the experienced midfielder in the dressing room after the final whistle.

Ugarte’s arrival, and desired return from the upcoming international break uninjured, are likely to improve Ten Hag’s predicament. At the moment, the club hierarchy continues to trust the Dutch tactician, but unless results start picking up – United have lost two of the three Premier League games played this season – things are bound to get messy.

But Ugarte, if he proves everything Ten Hag and the United faithful are hoping he will, could be a factor that acts against Casemiro and his potential return to the top of his game. As things stand, Casemiro is likely to drop down the pecking order, and only time will tell if the man, once known as a player able to withstand pressure better than most, gets to grips with the pace of the game in the Premier League.