Rio Ferdinand says Casemiro is being asked to do something he would never do at Real Madrid, and hits out at ‘disrespect’

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Manchester United midfielder Casemiro had a game to forget in the defeat to Liverpool at Old Trafford.

Any time a footballer is hooked at half-time, it is rarely a good sign. Either there is an injury, or in the case of Casemiro against Liverpool, his performance was simply not good enough.

Casemiro gave away two goals in the final 10 minutes of the first half with errant passes, a deficit Manchester United never recovered from.

United’s problems are also structural, evidenced by a third goal conceded without Casemiro – yet the Brazilian remains a problem for Erik ten Hag to solve.

Rio Ferdinand backs Casemiro

Casemiro has come in for intense criticism following the defeat, one of the most disappointing performances of his glittering career.

Teammate Bruno Fernandes backed Casemiro’s bravery in attempting to play line-breaking passes – even though they negatively impacted the team.

Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has thrown his support behind Casemiro.

Speaking to Rio Ferdinand presents, the ex-centre-back says Casemiro is being asked to do something he was never expected to do at former club Real Madrid.

Ferdinand said: “He’s almost 32 or he’s 32 years old, right, but when I look at him, I just feel that he’s being asked to do a lot of things, like play 30-yard balls and dictate the pace of the game etc.

“These are things that Man United would never have recruited him for. He has never been asked to do this at Real Madrid.”

At Real Madrid Casemiro played alongside Luka Modric and Toni Kroos, leaving him to take on most of the defensive duties, leaving the creativity to them.

Ferdinand also responded directly to Jamie Carragher declaring on Sky Sports that Casemiro could no longer play at the top level.

Ferdinand said: “I just think that’s highly disrespectful. I just think it’s really disrespectful because like especially given what my man’s won.

” I just think it’s a tad disrespectful in that there’s more to it than just he has made a couple of because if you look at the two games before this season, he has been probably arguably Man United’s best player.”

Owen Hargreaves on Casemiro

Former Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves believes former manager Sir Alex Ferguson would have handled the Casemiro situation better than Erik ten Hag.

Hargreaves said: “One thing I would say at this age Sir Alex would have done a really good thing with him.

“He would have had him play 25 games, and he would have also mentored the other players and been a bit of a leader in the dressing room. You can’t dismiss this man has won five Champions Leagues.”