A damning indictment of Casemiro's Manchester United demise came in the eventual 3-0 loss to Liverpool last weekend. The Brazilian had started the season brightly for Erik ten Hag's side, but his performance in the defeat to the Reds at Old Trafford felt like end for the midfielder. It was a 'Gary Neville vs West Brom' performance, the right-back calling time on his career after a disastrous first half against the baggies back in 2011.
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After an opening weekend win over Fulham followed by a 2-1 loss at Brighton, United supporters entered the meeting with Liverpool with a sense of trepidation. The Reds have started the campaign strongly having claimed back-to-back clean-sheet victories over Ipswich and Brentford. United at Old Trafford was the acid test.
Liverpool, though, passed with flying colours as they maintained their 100% start to the season. And in the opening 45 minutes, it looked like boys against men in Manchester. The vastly experienced Casemiro looked anything but as he was harried off the ball by the away side.
It was his error that that led to the opening Liverpool goal, that one of two in the Premier League in 2024; no outfield player has committed more this calendar year. On the ball, Casemiro looked well off the pace as he found a teammate with just 73% of his 37 attempted passes. Out of possession, the former Real Madrid man struggled, too, completing just one of three attempted tackles on home turf.
After a bright debut campaign in England, the 32-year-old looks a shadow of his former self, and this was summed up sufficiently in the disappointing performance against Liverpool that saw Casemiro land a WhoScored rating of just 5.11, marking his worst rated Premier League display of his career as he was hauled off at half time.
Casemiro earned a WhoScored rating of just 5.11 in the first half against Liverpool, his worst rating in a Premier League match of his career. 😖#MUNLIV pic.twitter.com/ygbxNtcnxv
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) September 1, 2024
The sub-par showings have seen Casemiro linked with a move to the Turkish Super Lig ahead of next week's deadline, with a switch to Galatasaray a possibility. It's a move that would suit all parties with the experienced midfielder really struggling with the pace of the Premier League.
Factor in the summer signing of Manuel Ugarte, the Uruguay international paraded in front of the Old Trafford faithful ahead of Sunday's game following his arrival from PSG, and Casemiro's days at United are very much numbered.
