Manchester United midfielder Casemiro believes the Reds should follow Man City’s blueprint.
There will be a lot of changes at Old Trafford in the coming months, with new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his Ineos Sports group now tasked with spearheading sporting operations at the club.
On Sunday, United suffered their 11th Premier League defeat of the season, losing 3-1 in the 192nd Manchester derby. Marcus Rashford scored the opener with a stunning strike from 25-yards after 8 minutes, but the Reds were unable to keep City at bay.
A second half brace from Phil Foden turned the game on its head before Erling Haaland secured the win at the end.
United lacked depth on the bench and some players, like Casemiro and Jonny Evans, were unable to sustain their performances levels from the first half for the full 90 minutes.
Casemiro spoke to ESPN Brasil after the match and he urged Ratcliffe and co to follow City’s blueprint.
“That is the big objective, we also have to be humble to accept that they are at the moment, not in history, as the history of Manchester United speaks for itself, but they are today the team to beat. Everyone wants to beat City. We have a mirror here, which is City, and they have been doing a great job.”
It’s never great hearing one of our key players praise a rival club, but Casemiro is right in that we’ve got catching up to do with a new ownership structure now in place.
The Brazil international knows what it takes to be successful after winning three La Liga titles, three Supercopa de Espana, three FIFA Club World Cups, three UEFA Super Cups, one Copa del Rey, and five Champions Leagues during his time at Real Madrid.
When asked about the derby defeat, Casemiro added: “We started well. We know that City like to have control of the game, but we were always comfortable. Of course, when they press you, they always create opportunities, but we also had some opportunities to make counterattacks. It ended up that we went back to the second half and conceded the goal very early.”
It remains to be seen if Casemiro will be at United next season, as interest brews from the Saudi Pro League, but his experience will be missed. He has not been as influential this season due to injuries and it may be time to move him on granted an adequate replacement is found.
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