The team that lined up against Bournemouth on Saturday was full of problems, but the return of Casemiro can only be a boost for Erik ten Hag.
Fans weren’t surprised at the weekend because Manchester United have had more than a fair share of injuries since the beginning of the season. My only question about it is do people genuinely think Raphael Varane at centre-back next to Harry Maguire with Luke Shaw at left-back would be better than what we’ve seen over the past two weeks?
The team itself, though, is a mash-up of misfits pieced together. Everyone can see that once they get on the pitch they run of a plan or don’t have a clear style of playing.
Ten Hag currently has 9 players ruled out due to fitness issues, although Casemiro has returned to training on the grass at Carrington and could mark his return to the team before the New Year. The other players ruled out injured include Tyrell Malacia, Lisandro Martinez, Christian Eriksen, Victor Lindelof, Amad Diallo.
Casemiro’s return will bring a glimmer of optimism because United fans have not seen the Brazilian midfielder in action since October.
It was expected the former Real Madrid man would be ruled out for the remainder of the year, but now he has stepped up his recovery at training and could find himself back in the team sooner than he thought.
The 31-year-old did not start the season in good form, with several of his performances being subject to criticism, but Ten Hag will hope Casemiro can get back to his best for the second half of the season.
With results yet to improve for United this season, the pressure is mounting on Ten Hag with a lot of pundits suggesting the Dutchman should be axed as United manager. However, Gary Neville deserves credit for being one of few sensible pundits for not jumping the bandwagon and backing the manager.
United have bigger problems and I have yet to speak to anyone with a realistic answer for who they want to replace Ten Hag.
Of course, I’m not naïve enough to suggest Ten Hag doesn’t deserve any of the blame for poor results. As manager he needs to take responsibility but perhaps my biggest gripe is the underperforming players who threw previous managers under the bus.
Ten Hag cannot hide from the fact that £400 million has been spent on players since he joined the club as manager from Ajax, yet it still seems like a task to make the most of what he has, especially at the weekend when the players fell to a 3-0 defeat at home to Bournemouth.
Of the 11 players who started the match, two are players that have previously been loaned out because they weren’t deemed good enough to play for the first team. That statistic makes it feel like there could be a place in the team for Wout Weghorst after January… Who knows?
Maybe Casemiro’s return could be the missing ingredient but I feel United need a lot more to find their groove again. Ten Hag needs more players — Martinez is another — that are willing to put their bodies on the line as well as someone in the middle to bring calmness and read the game.
Casemiro set high standards in his first season at Old Trafford and he will be keen to overcome the bad form he showed earlier this term. But time is getting by and he’s getting older, so I think Ten Hag can bring him back to compliment the team – but we’re a million miles away from being at a happy place with this team.
Ten Hag is expected to speak to the press this afternoon prior to the Bayern game and we might get a minor update on Casemiro.
Fingers crossed Casemiro can get back to his best until United try move him on in the summer…
The excitement around Casemiro’s return has been in overdrive due to how poor Sofyan Amrabat has been since joining on loan from Fiorentina.
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