Casemiro can allow Ten Hag to properly unleash Eriksen and Fernandes

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Erik ten Hag’s move to sign Christian Eriksen in the summer was an intriguing one. Was the Dane signed to compete with Bruno Fernandes, or play alongside him?

Ten Hag showed his hand against Brentford, selecting both in midfield. He wants to play both in the same starting XI.

Obviously this worked out terribly, with United losing 4-0. But that doesn’t mean Ten Hag will give up on the idea. It just means he didn’t get his tactics right.

Manchester United’s £60 million signing of Casemiro allows the Manchester United manager to give it another go.

READ MORE: Confirmed Manchester United transfers, ins, outs, loans, releases for 2022/23

Casemiro can help Ten Hag

Casemiro is an astute signing, filling a key role Manchester United have needed to fix, for a long time.

The Brazilian will sit in front of the defence as a holding midfielder, knowing exactly what his role is, with total discipline.

His ultra defensive approach allowed Luka Modric and Toni Kroos to thrive for Real Madrid, and his signing will give Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag a chance to try what he intends with Bruno Fernandes and Christian Eriksen.

In the last game, it was Fred who lined up as part of the midfield three. He is not a defensive midfielder.

At one stage it was Eriksen who was being asked to play deepest, and the set up just did not work at all, with United’s over-attacking trio put to the sword by Brentford.

A midfielder trio of Casemiro, Eriksen, and Fernandes may not work. But it has a lot better chance of working than the trio of Fred, Eriksen, and Fernandes.

Erik ten Hag has to work out who his best midfield trio is, who will work best alongside Casemiro. Donny van de Beek will be in the mix too.

Eriksen and Fernandes will get the nod in some games, not all. But the experiment can now work, after having no chance of working without the new signing.

The Liverpool match comes too soon for Casemiro, and its unclear if he will even be in contention to face Southampton either. But it won’t be long before the Brazilian is shielding Manchester United’s defence, and letting the attacking players do what they do best.