“He looked like he was 45!”
Agbonlahor said regarding Casemiro in United’s 3-1 home defeat to Brighton in the middle of September last year. The cracks were clear. Fast forward eight months and another performance of horror was showcased, a display of terror no less unusual than all that was showcased in the months in between Palace 4 Manchester United 0. No player has been dribbled past more in a single game this season (8). A regional alarm in Old Trafford should’ve been ringing from midnight to signal the emergency of the monsoon that had been waiting to burst, finally today has flooded and washed away all hope in the Brazilian. But there’s one more devastation. One more moment to consolidate the opinion that Casemiro is the synonym for catastrophe. Arsenal arrive at OT. Havertz is wide right and has a floated pass knocked to him, with all watching from home expecting the flag, what all at home could not see off-screen was the labouring Casemiro trundling forward in vein as Kai’s cross reaches Trossard for a tap-in finish & Arsenal collect 3 points. A season of mistakes is often downplayed by fans of rivals who only watch their team.
But when a team has one player who forever delivers the exasperation of Neville & Caragher on Sky, you’ve got a huge huge problem. Because it’s etched in stone. You have a player who fails every time he’s on TV. And today. Here we are again. Two goals directly from Casemiro’s mistakes. Hauled off at halftime & straight out of the ground and caught on camera in a moment of pure shame. Shame so depressing, only silence suffices, as the lack of words from Manchester United fans comes, not from the emptied enthusiasm for the season ahead or bitterness for the defeat today. No, it comes from the existential question they ask themselves at the end of the 90 as to “what would it take for Erik Ten Hag to see the issue in midfield with clarity, honesty & accountability?”
So let’s get into the nuts and bolts of why Casemiro keeps failing in midfield. The first issue is the problem of compactness. The lines and gaps between the CBs and CM’s are alarmingly big. Distances that encourage direct attacks if dispossession occurs in that zone. United had two free kicks that led to two 3v2s v Fulham. Casemiro has no support from behind him.
Two: Casemiro isn’t failing because he’s too old he’s failing because he’s too old to be in a team that’s this badly structured. Jorginho is 32. Casemiro is 32. Jorginho played Liverpool as a 6 at home in January. Casemiro played as a 6 vs Liverpool at home today. Jorginho was Man of the Match vs Liverpool that day. Casemiro might have started his last game for United today vs Liverpool today. The difference: is the tactical setup. Jorginho in that Arsenal team under Mikel Arteta had Declan Rice next to him & two CBs who could react to 2nd balls and counter press better than anyone in the league. The system became the legs for Jorginho where all that was required was his motor neurons and IQ. ETH puts a hodgepodge of a side with Casemiro flunked in the middle of it with Mainoo and expects Casemiro to be able to run, tackle and defend as he did when he had prime Modric, Kroos & Valverde around him. It’s all for the world to see, bar Ten Hag: that the man is haggard.
His qualities are there but are destroyed in a system where there is no system where there is no discernable level of compactness and unity. Jorginho doesn’t play every game. You manage your senior players. Game-by-game basis. You adjust to make sure you’re not exposed. But Ten Hag sees something no one else sees. It is why Ronaldo looked so bad in his last year. A veteran tasked with a 25-year-old task. What is unforgivable with Ten Hag is, that you’ve seen the midfield conundrum plague Man United for years, you’ve been aware from the first month of your Premier League baptism vs Brentford when Eriksen got caught out, that there’s a ruthlessness unlike no other league when it comes to dispossession in central areas. You adjusted slightly but still conceded the most shots in all the major leagues, the majority coming from plays straight down the middle. But you continue, and you make it to the summer, where you’ve seen the new ownership, and new director of football, all decide to relinquish you of your transfer involvement and sell Mctominay and ensure there’s a midfield signing in Ugarte who partially solves some of your pressing issues. You’ve overseen this all, with a clear focus on becoming more proactive than reactive, engaging in games and not being bystanders watching teams dominate you. You’ve had a whole pre-season with your players to work on pressing structures and new shapes that should form out of possession. And yet, you deliver today one of a possible 25 torturous home defeats that was over before it started. Simply because you can’t see it. You’ve become ebullient in your interviews since you delivered an FA Cup & today you mention the trophies United have won and your contribution. But just like the dying embers of Mourinho’s flame flickering at United when you start to speak about the past and constantly highlight the success of yesteryear, in the moments where there is no indicator that your service is offering a positive tomorrow: you will soon become a figure that also gets spoken about in past tense.