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Manchester United legends Roy Keane and Gary Neville have insisted that Erik ten Hag may be best served by deploying Casemiro in a new midfield position.
Casemiro endured a game to forget last weekend as United suffered a devastating 3-0 loss at the hands of bitter rivals Liverpool.
The Brazilian made two extremely costly mistakes that directly led to Luis Diaz’s two opening strikes for the Merseysiders.
He was hooked at half-time and replaced by debutant Toby Collyer, who saw off the rest of the match. Casemiro has since been subjected to intense criticism with a section of the media and supporters questioning his long-term future at Old Trafford.
The 32-year-old has emerged as a shock target for Turkish giants Galatasaray but it’s believed a deal may prove too difficult to get over the line due to the high wages he commands at United.
Casemiro’s place in the team looks under even more threat following the signing of Manuel Ugarte from Paris Saint-Germain. If Ugarte hits the ground running in England, Ten Hag may find himself with a difficult decision to make over Casemiro’s role in his plans moving forward.
Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, Keane said that he would have kept Casemiro on the pitch against Liverpool despite his mistakes as he explained how United can get the best out of the five-time Champions League winner.
Keane remarked, “I wouldn’t be writing him off yet.”
“His role in the team, if he gets back in and a couple of games under his belt, might be a bit higher up the pitch.”
“The first thing we always say is, ‘he can’t get around the pitch’. But what we’ve seen going forward, he does have an eye for a pass. Set-pieces, how many times does he get his head on it?”
“He’s come back and he’s lost a lot of weight, sometimes that can affect a player. Players becoming fitness freaks… you can go too far the other way. You still need that strength and power in the middle of the park.”
Neville agreed with Keane and added, “Moving him probably higher and away from that back four and those deeper positions… I don’t think he’s the best at receiving it on the half turn.”
“Ugarte’s going to come in with Mainoo. But when [Casemiro] does play, maybe Ugarte can sit a little bit deeper and he can move on a little bit.”
United return to action on September 14 when they travel to meet newly-promoted Southampton.
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