‘Casemiro is NOT finished’

Carlo Garganese

• 3 Sept 2024 14:30 BST
• 4 min read

Rio Ferdinand has hit back at Jamie Carragher after the Liverpool legend’s controversial comments about Casemiro.

Casemiro endured a miserable performance during Man Utd’s 3-0 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday, making two big errors for the first two goals and being subbed at half time.

Carragher intimated that Casemiro was finished at the top level and advised the midfielder to “leave the football before the football leaves you.”

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Ferdinand believes this was very disrespectful and untrue.

What did Ferdinand say?

“I heard Jamie Carragher say ‘leave the football before the football leaves you’ and I just think that’s highly disrespectful,” Ferdinand said.

“I just think it’s really disrespectful because especially given what my man’s [Casemiro] won, there’s more to it than he’s just made a couple of mistakes.

“If you look at the two games before Liverpool he’s been arguably Man United’s best player. I think it’s easier to say that he’s gone, he’s finished, he’s too old.

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“I believe when I look at him, he’s being asked to do a lot of things like play 30-yard balls, dictate the pace, these are things Man United would never have recruited him for,” the pundit added.

“He was never asked to do this at Real Madrid. He was cleaning up, security in front, slide tackling, covering all the gaps and then giving it to other people to play football.”

Casemiro's performance will only further add to calls that United must sell the 32-year-old.

The Brazilian was transfer listed this summer but the midfielder was unwilling to take a drastic pay cut as he is Man Utd’s highest paid player on £18.2 million per year.

Casemiro was arguably Man Utd’s signature move of the summer of 2022, as they splashed out over €70 million for the legendary midfielder from Real Madrid.

Some critics questioned paying such a large sum of money for a player who was already 30.

The 32-year-old performed well for much of his first season and he played a key role in them winning the Carabao Cup.

However, his form fell off badly in the 2023-24 campaign for a Man Utd team that endured a disastrous Premier League and Champions League season.

United finished in eighth place, out of the European places and with a negative goal difference. They also were knocked out of the Champions League group stages, finishing bottom of a group containing Bayern Munich, Copenhagen and Galatasaray, and conceding more goals than any English team in a group campaign ever.

They did win the FA Cup, but Casemiro did not play in the final.

Physically, Casemiro looked like a player who is well past his best and who is no longer able to cope with the rigours of fast-paced football.

He also struggled with injury over the course of the past season.

He was heavily linked with a transfer away from the club in January, with Saudi Arabian teams interested in him.

In the end, Casemiro stayed until the end of the campaign and he made little impact in the second half of the campaign as he missed the FA Cup final win over Man City.

Man Utd put Casemiro up for sale this summer but were unable to offload him.

He has started the first three games of the new Premier League season where United have earned just three points. He is expected to lose his spot in the team to new signing Manuel Ugarte.