Manchester United fans could not be any clearer with their stance on the midfield partnership between Kobbie Mainoo and Casemiro after the Brighton defeat on Saturday.
The Red Devils kicked off their Premier League campaign last week with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Marco Silva’s Fulham side at Old Trafford.
Joshua Zirkzee climbed off the bench in the second half of the Fulham clash and broke the deadlock to secure all three points in the opening Premier League match.
However, United boss Erik ten Hag oversaw a major setback after the Red Devils suffered a 2-1 loss to Brighton at the Amex.
Former Red Devils striker Danny Welbeck fired Brighton into the lead in the first half after a sloppy piece of defending from United, with Harry Maguire largely at fault.
United were able to rally back in the second half after Amad Diallo cancelled out Danny Welbeck’s opener for Brighton at the Amex.
Joao Pedro then delivered a devastating blow to United after the Red Devils’ defence switched off in injury time and the 22-year-old Brazilian secured the winner.
Mainoo and Casemiro vs Brighton
Casemiro and Kobbie Mainoo retained their place in the Manchester United starting XI against Brighton after the win over Fulham at Old Trafford last Friday.
Mainoo enjoyed a breakout campaign at the Red Devils last season and established himself as a linchpin midfield figure for United manager Erik ten Hag.
Ten Hag has preferred to start former Real Madrid star Casemiro in the heart of midfield alongside Mainoo, with the Brazilian midfielder seeing a turnaround in form.
However, the Casemiro and Mainoo partnership struggled to make an impact against Brighton and the pair appeared “too slow” in midfield.
Mainoo had not featured in pre-season for United this summer after receiving an extended break following his starring role with England at Euro 2024.
The 19-year-old Stockport-born player produced a steady performance against Brighton, but fans were quick to accuse Mainoo of being “sloppy” on the ball.
Casemiro played the full 90 minutes against Brighton, but Ten Hag withdrew Mainoo and replaced him with Scott McTominay in the 84th minute.
Man Utd fans react to Mainoo and Casemiro
United fans on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, all felt the same way that the Mainoo and Casemiro partnership would “never work.”
Red Devils supporters were critical of the two aforementioned players, with Mainoo and Casemiro lacking “urgency” and both being “slow.”
One United fan insisted that the Red Devils need a “proper CDM” to partner with Mainoo, with Paris Saint-Germain’s Manuel Ugarte heavily linked with the club.
An X user wrote: “Casemiro [and] Mainoo were too slow [and] sloppy in midfield! There was no urgency!”
“Mainoo was poor today. He had no right to stay on with Bruno [Fernandes] going off,” another tweeted.
Somebody else said: “Casemiro and Mainoo are very slow. We will suffer a lot against faster teams.”
While a fourth posted: “I’m afraid that the Mainoo and Casemiro partnership will never work.”
And a fifth commented: “They are both slow and I think Mainoo is overworking covering large space.”
“Get a proper CDM alongside Mainoo for the love of all that [is] holy in football,” someone else claimed.
Another simply wrote: “Casemiro and Mainoo had zero control of that midfield today.”
An eighth said: “We absolutely can’t be having Mainoo and Casemiro play full 90s.”
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