Roy Keane has admitted that while Casemiro had a howler against Crystal Palace on Monday, his teammates did nowhere near enough to help him across the 90-minute thrashing.
The Brazilian oversaw perhaps his worst performance in a Manchester United shirt while deputising for the numerous sidelined defenders at centre-half. He partnered fellow veteran Jonny Evans, who had only just returned from an injury setback himself.
In truth, Casemiro was nothing short of calamitous for each of Palace’s four daggers at Selhurst Park. Whether it be a lack of pace, mistimed tackles or simply not being strong enough on the ball, the Eagles ensured that they took full advantage of his shakiness and went on to reap the rewards.
He even, unfortunately, set a new Premier League record for the term after he was dribbled past eight times in total, the most of any player in a single match in 2023/2024.
It’s led to the 32-year-old coming under fire from all angles, with supporters, pundits and journalists all bemoaning his efforts as United recorded an 18th defeat of the campaign.
Casemiro can’t take all the blame, says Keane
Keane echoed the sentiment that it was a night to forget for the five-time Champions League winner, but he believes blame must be shared with the players surrounding him who were operating in their usual positions, unlike Casemiro.
On today’s Stick to Football episode, the Irishman told the panel: “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.
“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,” he continued. “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.”
