10 May 2024 , 10:43
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Roy Keane claims Manchester United would have been better off playing a youth team player instead of Casemiro in Monday night’s horror show away to Crystal Palace.
But the former United captain insists the key to the Brazilian’s poor performance was the absence of support he received from team-mates.
United were thrashed 4-0 at Selhurst Park to leave head coach Erik ten Hag on the brink and fresh doubts placed over Casemiro’s future as a top level player.
And speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, Keane said: “He was isolated by his own fault, because he wasn’t getting people around him, and you have to take responsibility for that. But if we’re talking about it being a team game, structure-this and structure-that, playing between the lines, that’s all well and good but when you’re up against it, you need your teammates around you. There’s the whole idea of playing in a team.
“Of all the players at Manchester United, including the reserves and youth team, if there was one player I wouldn’t play at centre-half against Crystal Palace, he’d be the one I wouldn’t play. Aaron Wan-Bissaka or someone else.
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"I would play anyone else at centre back than Casemiro. When you get to 31 and 32, every time you have a really bad game, it becomes a shocker. I had people tell me that I was finished at that level, but players can get through it if they play in their best position.
"I looked at Casemiro the other night and he was having a bad time, but he wasn’t getting any help from the other players. If your legs are going a bit, you get people around you [to help] and that’s where he should’ve done better with his experience. But defensively, he got no help from anyone whatsoever. Defensively they were all over the place.
“I’m not saying he didn’t have a shocker. Great players have a dip in confidence, but who’s helping him? This is a top-class player and you’re looking at the lads around him, people like Jonny Evans, who is a centre-half – that’s his position.
“He’s got full-backs around him too and sometimes you look at one of your teammates and think ‘it’s not happening for him today’ and I forgive a player when he's having a tough time.
“But when he’s also out of position against a team who have a couple of good players who can go by people even in their prime, it compounds the mistakes. My frustration was with the players around Casemiro – help him out! Jonny is a centre-half and the full backs should just sit in.”
Roy Keane thinks Casemiro needed more help from his Manchester United team-mates. (Michael Regan - The FA/The FA via Getty Images)DON'T SCRAP REPLAYS!
Meanwhile, Keane’s former team-mate Andrew Cole has hinted that United will regret offering Casemiro a four-year deal.
The former Real Madrid star is only halfway through it, meaning United may need to agree to a cut-price offer if they want to sell him this summer.
“He signed a four-year contract didn’t he?” Cole told Betfred. “If I signed a four-year contract and I had another two years on it and I wanted to stick around, then that’s up to me. If Manchester United want him to leave, then they’re going to have to decide whether they’re going to pay him to go. Ultimately, this is what happens when you give out long-term contracts.
“Manchester United have found themselves in this position a lot over the last ten years. They’ve given players long-term contracts, the player’s done well for a year or two and then the club’s had to move them on for far less than they paid for them initially. Nothing’s really changed with the way that Manchester United have conducted their transfer business over the last ten years.”
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Roy Keane was speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet.
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