Manchester United only have one fit centre-back at the club, but Casemiro’s performance against Burnley should help ease Erik ten Hag’s selection crisis.
Harry Maguire was set to partner Victor Lindelof on defense during the Red Devils’ Carabao Cup tie last night, but withdrew from the team due to illness.
Raphael Varane suffered an injury against Argentina in the World Cup final and is not expected to return until United’s game against Wolverhampton Wanderers on New Year’s Eve.
Meanwhile, Lisandro Martínez is still out celebrating his country’s triumph in Qatar and is unlikely to return until the trip to Molineux.
And then there’s Axel Tuanzebe, who has had an injury-plagued season. Although the academy graduate is back in training, his manager hasn’t deemed him ready for action.
That leaves Victor Lindelof as the only fit senior central defender in United’s first team, with Casemiro taking on an unknown role at Old Trafford yesterday to accompany him.
And the Brazilian was immense in his performance, oozing class on the ball and being an immovable object off it.
He disrupted Burnley’s possessions on ten occasions, putting his body on the line and exploiting his ability to win balls to great effect.
Much of Burnley’s play took place on the ground and Casemiro’s one-on-one ability against attackers was a huge factor in limiting Vincent Kompany’s side to just one shot on goal throughout the match.
But it was his ability on the ball that really shone, with the former Real Madrid man playing a number of defensive passes.
His passing was reminiscent of Paul Scholes at times, with his punching technique difficult for Burnley to defend and accurate enough to find teammates from great distances.
The Brazil star completed nine accurate long passes and was particularly good at finding United’s wide-open attackers in space.
With 126 touches, Casemiro was the foundation of all of the Red Devils’ attacks, and his pass-first mentality was a far cry from some of the laborious construction games some of United’s other centre-backs have been guilty of in last.
His more direct approach allowed the team to catch Burnley over the counter on a number of occasions, which was especially impressive given the Championship side’s discipline in retreating back to their defensive form at speed.
There were a couple of occasions where Casemiro got behind their defense too hastily, and on another day that might have led to chances against a team willing to go behind and exploit an offside line.
Those mistakes went unpunished, however, and are to be expected from a midfielder recruited to play at the heart of the defense on short notice.
What Casemiro brought to the back line is sure to be encouraging for United fans and should certainly soften the blow that the absences of Varane, Martinez and Maguire will bring.
(All stats via SofaScore)
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