Casemiro’s fall from legend to liability shows Manchester United what must come next

Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sir Dave Brailsford have not held back in letting senior Manchester United figures know where they have gone wrong in the past decade of decay at Old Trafford.

The failures the Ineos pair have really hammered home centred around United’s horrendous transfer record in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, with one player in particular epitomising everything that is wrong about their approach to the market.

Casemiro had won it all at Real Madrid and was approaching the twilight of his career. Rather than try and unearth the next embryonic midfield starlet with their vast scouting resources, United spent big on a 30-year-old Brazilian and paid him top wages in the hope he could be the catalyst for change, despite issues over how to motivate a player with a medal collection he was always unlikely to add much to at Old Trafford.

Last season, Casemiro was integral to United ending their six-year trophy drought, scoring the opener in United’s League Cup final victory over Newcastle, as fans finally thought they had the heir to Roy Keane’s long-vacated defensive midfield throne.

As was always going to happen, as results started to suffer this season, Casemiro’s stock has fallen, dramatically, so much so he is more liability than legend now.

Against Liverpool, after a positive start, the game simply bypassed the weary Brazilian on Sunday, as if he wasn’t there.

Time and again, as Liverpool smelt blood and flooded forward en masse, young Kobbie Mainoo was having to do the job of two men in midfield, with Casemiro so far off the pace he was in a different postcode to Alexis Mac Allister at times.

All he needed to do was sit and protect a vulnerable back line and let Mainoo offer that additional support in attack – his stunning strike for United’s second, eerily similar to Federico Macheda’s wondergoal against Aston Villa 15 years ago this week, evidence of what he can offer.

But Casemiro continued to venture forward too, unable to get back whenever United lost the ball.

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The frustration poured out of him late on as he lunged into a dangerous tackle on Luis Diaz that could, on another day, have led to a red card. It also presented Liverpool with a free-kick opportunity with the last kick of the game – when containment should have been the order of the day.

That moment of madness summed up the Brazilian’s day and majority of what has been a disappointing campaign. He may not be fully fit, but his top-level know-how, something United welcomed with open arms last season, has deserted him too.

He should be the perfect role model for Mainoo, who is thriving despite Casemiro rather than because of any example the Brazilian is setting.

The problem Erik ten Hag has is that this chaotic, porous United need to deploy two holding midfielders, as only going with one defensive-minded central figure has left them mightily exposed, against opposition of any calibre this season.

Yet, Sofyan Amrabat is clearly not of the sufficient standard, Scott McTominay too ill-disciplined in his forays forward and Christian Eriksen, understandably, unable to reach his optimum level, leaving Casemiro, in whatever physical state he is in, as the only option.

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Showings such as Sunday’s will only reinforce Ratcliffe and Brailsford’s assessment upon being handed the keys to Old Trafford. Cutting costs and ridding themselves of ill-fitting stars are top of their agenda, once their structural changes in the boardroom have been finalised.

Casemiro falls into both of those categories. Short term he was a very useful, and expensive, quick fix to a problematic position. Now, he is doing more damage to the team, and his colleagues in red around him, than his wage outlay justifies.