Manchester United have had quite a few sobering days at Old Trafford since Sir Alex Ferguson retired so there’s an air of expectancy now, as sad as that is.
Still, the way Arne Slot’s Liverpool, in only his third competitive game, ran circles around Erik ten Hag’s side was an inexcusable sight.
United started in a fairly competitive fashion before it was the Casemiro show, for all the wrong reasons.
He gave away the ball for the two first-half goals which put Liverpool in the driving seat, a position they never relinquished.
Even apart from the two mistakes directly leading to goals, he looked like he aged 45 years in the 45 minutes he was on the pitch, so laborious was his display.
Casemiro’s Hall of Shame display
Manchester United had come to terms with Casemiro being a shell of his former self after last year’s performances and the decline in every department.
However, he showed renewed energy in the first two games, making fans believe that there was still life in the player and they could have two defensive options after Manuel Ugarte’s arrival.
It turned out to be a false dawn, to such an extent that United fans have woken up from it in brutal fashion.
Against Liverpool, Casemiro was a deer in headlights. There were misplaced passes, getting caught on the ball, missing tackles he flew in for, and zero offensive contribution too.
The Old Trafford crowd is famous for never turning on its players. Instead, it is even more boisterous for those it believes are struggling.
Casemiro even managed the impossible when near the half-time mark, he misplaced a pass and even the crowd started getting on his back.
The half-time substitution, even when the only option to come on was a 20-year-old yet to make his league debut, was an act of mercy.
End of Casemiro as a starter
Ideally, this past transfer window should have been the end of Casemiro as even a Man United player but there were no takers.
However, this is the game where Casemiro as a starter experience should end once and for all. Manuel Ugarte has already arrived and the late registration for him was a big mistake as is now clear.
There were already no takers for Casemiro and with another year in his age and what looks like a series of even worse displays makes it certain that United are stuck with him and his grand wages till the expiry of his contract.
They can’t get rid of him but for the team and at this point his own well-being, he needs to be kept away from the starting XI.
For Ugarte, it is a lot to ask to come in and immediately fix the team as even though Casemiro has had a nightmare, the issues are systemic for Ten Hag to solve too.
Casemiro is just the personification of those problems.
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
