Rio Ferdinand does not understand that Erik ten Hag chose not to field Casemiro in the Manchester Derby, says the former top defender of the Red Devils on his Youtube channel five. The thirty-year-old Brazilian has not been a basic player in any Premier League game so far, and also had to make do with a role as a substitute during the humiliation against Manchester City (6-3).
As a result, Casemiro was on the bench next to Cristiano Ronaldo at the Etihad Stadium. Ferdinand doesn’t think the defensive midfielder is happy with that. “Casemiro sits there on the couch, thinking: I have won the Champions League five times. I’ve heard people say that he needs runners around him and that he can’t play with Eriksen and Bruno (Fernandes, ed.), but this guy played with two snails at Real Madrid, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos.”
Ferdinand believes that Casemiro should be given a fair chance from Ten Hag. “He knows his way around a football field. He is a fantastic defensive midfielder. One of the best, if not the best, in the world before coming to Manchester United.” United paid no less than seventy million euros at the end of August to bring Casemiro to the Premier League. So far he has had to put up with Scott McTominay at Old Trafford.
Ferdinand doesn’t understand the choice for McTominay, and thinks it will backfire in the dressing room as well. “I wonder what impact that will have on someone like Casemiro. He has the experience, but he has to think something like: Wow I’m so happy to be at United but I don’t feel very respected given my track record. He and Ronaldo can now play in the Europa League midweeks, but that doesn’t suit them.”