Harry Maguire returned from suspension for Manchester United and instantly proved his value, particularly in one area of the pitch.
Manchester United beat Brentford on Monday night to effectively wrap up qualification for the Champions League with four games to play, needing two points to mathematically guarantee it.
Michael Carrick will have loved the performance, particularly in the first half, with United scoring twice and having another chalked offside.
Casemiro was the first scorer as he headed home a ninth of the campaign, as United once again made a set-piece count.
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Harry Maguire on Manchester United’s set-piece threat
United have become one of the best clubs at set-pieces in the league, with Casemiro and Harry Maguire key factors. But set-pieces weren’t always a strength as recently as 2024/25 under Ruben Amorim, prompting the players to try and change this.
Speaking on MUTV after the game, Maguire admitted that United’s players talked about making the most of set-pieces last pre-season, with the impact of this fix still being felt today.
“We love playing together because we know that we can both score from any opportunity on a set play.
“When you go forward, and you have a set play, if there’s only real one big threat, it makes it a lot tougher for yourself, because you do get one, two, three players keeping an eye on where you’re moving.
“But when you have two threats, like me and Case and also Ben [Sesko] as well, who’s a big threat as well.
“It does really help that we were a big threat from set players this year.
“It’s something that we spoke about in preseason, and we’ve been a huge threat.”
United’s strength from set-pieces won’t be the same without Casemiro next season, but is something the coaching department must try to find another solution to.
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Manchester United’s summer shortlist should include aerial threats
This summer, the most important position is clearly the midfield, with Casemiro departing United for free and therefore needing to be replaced.
But United can’t simply sign another big-name midfielder; instead, his replacement needs to tick off boxes of what Casemiro offers, but also what he doesn’t.
Ineos needs to sign a more mobile and athletic midfielder, but on the flip side, United also cannot lose the aerial ability of Casemiro.
Due to these stipulations, United should definitely be looking to sign Aurelien Tchouameni, given his brilliance in the air, which could translate to goals if used in the same way Casemiro was.
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