Manchester United were held to a 2-2 draw against Bournemouth, and Jamie Redknapp has criticised to the performance of Brazilian international Casemiro.
Casemiro has been quite underwhelming this season, and Jamie Redknapp believes that he needs to raise his performance levels. The popular pundit cited the example of Manchester City midfielder Rodri and explained how the Spanish international helps out his teammates and gets the job done in the middle of the park.
Casemiro played at pedestrian pace against Bournemouth, and he could have done more to shield the back four and protect Manchester United defensively.
The former Tottenham midfielder said, “I watched Casemiro at times today. I’ve watched him for many years and he’s one of my favourite defensive midfield players in world football, I love watching him play. But I watch him now and it looks like he’s playing at Soccer Aid.”
“It looks like he’s playing at such a pace where it’s a bit of fun and there’s celebrities coming on the pitch – no. This is the Premier League. You’ve got so much experience. That isn’t a case of anything else other than running. I think of Rodri and what he’d be doing in a situation – he’d be flying out to help his teammates and that’s what Casemiro should be doing.”
“This is my point with Kobbie Mainoo. He’s got the world at his feet, but you need great role models to get to the top and people who you’re going to look up to and aspire to be like. But at the moment Casemiro is not setting the right example to the young players around him. As I say I’m a massive fan, but that isn’t good enough. If he sprinted he would have stopped that.”
The Brazilian is clearly not at his best this season, and it will be interesting to see if he can improve in the remaining weeks of the season. He was a world-class player during his time at Real Madrid, and he helped them win several major trophies.
It seems that the South American has regressed this season, and Manchester United will certainly hope that he can get back to his best once again. Ideally, the Red Devils should look to sign a younger defensive midfielder with more potential at the end of the season.
Casemiro is clearly in his twilight years, and he is unlikely to improve at this stage of his career. Manchester United might need to replace him soon, and they should look to make plans ahead of the summer transfer window.
Meanwhile, the draw against Bournemouth will be a disappointing blow for the Red Devils especially after an impressive performance against Liverpool. It remains to be seen whether they can finish the season strongly now.
