Ten Hag explains why Man Utd star has had a CATASTROPHIC season

Robin Bairner

• 19 Apr 2024 13:15 BST
• 13 min read

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has addressed the struggles of Casemiro this season and has explained why the former Real Madrid midfielder has endured a difficult second campaign at the club.

Signed from Los Blancos in the summer of 2022 for €70.7 million, Casemiro initially slotted seamlessly into the United team and was hailed as an inspired addition to the squad.

He was ranked as the fourth-best central midfielder in the whole of the Premier League last term by data analytics experts SciSports, yet he has failed to replicate that form this time around.

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Casemiro has been a target for criticism and there is a strong suggestion he could move on in the summer, with a transfer to the Saudi Pro League beckoning.

Ten Hag has moved to defend the 32-year-old from his critics by explaining the player’s downturn.

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“This season he struggled with a bad injury he never had in his career,” Ten Hag told the media.

“But he always win in his career, everywhere he was, there will be success. I trust he will give his success and I know he will need games, he will be better and I'm very confident about him, he is a fighter, why he also won big trophies and he's a very important player.”

Casemiro vs Premier League midfielders: 2022/23

Is Ten Hag right?

Casemiro has managed to feature only 25 times for Man Utd over the course of the 2023/24 campaign, having missed out from the middle of October until January.

This was indeed the longest absence of the bullish midfielder’s career in terms of days missed, yet the Brazilian was already subject to criticism before he picked up the problem, having made a slow start to the season.

Ten Hag’s analysis of the situation, then, suggests that he is using a defence for Casemiro that is not entirely valid.