How Casemiro has impressed the Manchester United dressing room in just three months
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Casemiro didn’t walk into the Carrington dressing room on day one of his Manchester United career and lay his medals down on the table, but he did still command immediate respect.
The 30-year-old has made a blistering start to his career at the club, losing just one of the 11 games he has started since his £70million move from Real Madrid, but as well as shining on the pitch, he has already become a leader off it as well.
Under Erik ten Hag the make-up of the United dressing room has shifted since the end of last season. There was a raft of senior departures on free transfers in the summer and the Dutchman has given power to senior players, with David de Gea, Tom Heaton, Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes said to be key in terms of leading the dressing room now.
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Lisandro Martinez’s personality has also helped to gel the group, but Casemiro’s immense stature has already won over his teammates.
The Brazilian’s physical capabilities and his refusal to shirk a challenge have impressed colleagues in the dressing room, as has his willingness to stand up for teammates on the pitch. It’s been less than three months since he joined a club that looked to be at rock bottom, but the turnaround has been swift and Casemiro is now a key cog on and off the pitch.
His early weeks at Old Trafford were actually characterised by the sight of him sitting next to Cristiano Ronaldo on the substitutes bench. The former Real Madrid teammates were both replacements for the first four Premier League fixtures after Casemiro’s arrival at the club.
But while there was a sense that was Ronaldo’s reality, something proven over the previous 10 days, it was only ever a temporary home for Casemiro. When United’s good run ended with a 6-3 defeat to Manchester City, the desire to hold him back and ease him in was over.
Until then Scott McTominay had maintained his place in a side that was performing, but that derby day debacle was the time for change. The only game Casemiro hasn’t started since then is the 4-2 Carabao Cup success against Aston Villa, when he came on for the final eight minutes to steer United over the line.
Casemiro has been described as the ‘cement between the stones’ on a couple of occasions by Ten Hag now. When United spent such eye-watering sums on a 30-year-old in August, signing him up for five years on a significant salary, there were concerns that Real Madrid had seen them coming.
Now, Casemiro looks like the piece of the jigsaw this midfield has been missing for a number of years. His quality as a defensive midfielder has never been in doubt, but his ability to play forward passes and break defensive lines has been eye-catching.
As for those medals, there were 18 of them across his 11 years at Real Madrid. He really had won it all and a week before joining United was man of the match in the Super Cup victory against Eintracht Frankfurt.
But while Real might have been happy to cash in, having signed Eduardo Camavinga and Aurélien Tchouaméni, the experienced Brazilian was also ready to move on from the Bernabeu. He had literally won it all in Spain and was ready for a new challenge.
United’s move for him might have looked like it was part of a mad trolley dash after back-to-back defeats to open the Premier League season, but it was planned for longer than that. Frenkie de Jong might have been Ten Hag’s top midfield target this summer, but Casemiro was always a possibility and he knew that from early on in the window.
When United touched base again after the 4-0 defeat to Brentford, he reaffirmed his desire to play for the club in the Premier League. That defeat hadn’t forced him to reconsider and Ten Hag and football director John Murtough were impressed with that character.
Now, the United dressing room has seen the same traits. On Thursday night, Casemiro will begin his quest to win Brazil’s first World Cup in 20 years but when he returns to Old Trafford he will be invaluable once again, however the next month pans out.
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