On yet another terrible evening in Europe for Manchester United, one player showed why his reduced role in the team is exactly what he deserves.
After drawing 1-1 against Twente, it was important that three points were secured on Thursday night – however, things went from bad to worse with a 3-3 draw against Porto.
The night at the Estadio do Dragao started off well though with Manchester United taking a 2-0 lead through Marcus Rashford first and then Rasmus Hojlund.
As customary for United in Europe, the lead was not to last as Porto came storming back to salvage a 3-3 draw which was still a fatal blow to Erik ten Hag – Harry Maguire saving it from being even worse with an injury-time equaliser.
In the game, one United player showed exactly why his minutes have been slashed this season.
Casemiro proves he should not be starting games
After a poor 2023/24 for Casemiro, Ineos acted in the summer to sign a new defensive midfielder in Manuel Ugarte.
However, against Porto Ten Hag rotated and this saw his Brazilian starting – but he will be wishing he had not played Casemiro against his former side Porto.
Starting in central midfield alongside Eriksen, Casemiro offered as much resistance to Porto’s counterattacks as a cone as he was bypassed with ease time after time.
Casemiro may have been okay offensively, but in defence, he lost five duels out of the eight he competed. For such an experienced player, it is insane to see him so out of his depth.
He was also dribbled past once and only won one tackle which is not good enough considering how relentlessly Porto were breaking at points in the game.
Manchester United have a £70m problem
After this performance from Casemiro, it is clearer than ever that the Brazilian’s time at this level is over.
His outing against Porto may not have been his worst this season, with a hall-of-shame display against Liverpool claiming that crown, but against inferior opposition, he was miles off the pace.
Since the Liverpool game, in which Casemiro played 45 minutes, he has only managed a further 138 minutes in September.
Casemiro was signed for £70m and still has just under two years left on his big-money contract – an issue which will plague Ineos long after Ten Hag leaves.
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
