Former Manchester United coach Rene Meulensteen admits he has concerns over Raphael Varane, Andre Onana and Casemiro with the Brazilian unable to ‘handle’ Erik ten Hag’s high-pressure football.
Whisper it, but it appears we are hurtling towards the moment where the experience and the big-game nous of former Real Madrid duo Raphael Varane and Casemiro are offset by a lack of legs, their energy-levels draining away quicker than an own-brand battery.
Casemiro, in particular, has been in dreadful form throughout much of the campaign, stumbling through treacle and coughing up possession at an alarming rate. Varane, meanwhile, continues to struggle with niggling injury issues.
If Ten Hag is serious about making Manchester United the ‘best transition team in the world’, then Casemiro and Varane are starting to resemble a pair of classic cars going sharing a road with a fleet of Ferraris, their engines spluttering and in dire need of some fresh parts.
Casemiro and Raphael Varane facing uncertain futures
“United has certain shortcomings,” Meulensteen, an assistant to Sir Alex Ferguson from 2007 to 2013, tells ESPN. “(Varane) cannot handle the pace. The Premier League is dynamic. Everything goes at 100 kilometres per hour.
“That is the big problem in midfield. They have no energy and that is how the defence gets into trouble.
“(Ten Hag) wants to put a lot of pressure on, with a lot of intensity. Just like at Ajax. But he doesn’t have the players for that. The players don’t have the mentality to constantly put pressure on.
“Casemiro, for example, can’t handle it at all. Ten Hag has a certain conviction about how he wants to play. But he has to find ways to get there.”
Big questions over Andre Onana
The sight of Casemiro being hauled off at half-time against Brentford last time out – after making a huge error in the build-up to the visitors’ opener – had a beginning-of-the-end sort of feeling to it, especially with Sofyan Amrabat, Mason Mount, Hannibal Mejbri and the returning Kobbie Mainoo better suited to Ten Hag’s preferred all-action approach.
Andre Onana, meanwhile, did not escape the blame for Matthias Jensen’s early strike either, another weak shot slipping through his grasp.
“(Onana) can be an extra player in the build-up,” Meulensteen adds. “But such mistakes cannot be coached against.”
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