Now that the Erik ten Hag era is over and the dust is in danger of settling, let us ask a largely irrelevant question that is at least a cheap and easy way into this article: who was its defining player?
You could make an argument for several. Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho became regular starters under Ten Hag, and will likely be his greatest legacy, but both clearly have their best days ahead of them. Bruno Fernandes was named captain too, but then his importance predated this manager.
It probably has to be one of the signings. Lisandro Martinez was Ten Hag’s lieutenant, his embodiment on the pitch, but has probably been too successful an addition to define a decidedly mixed era.
You can imagine that Antony will forever be associated with this specific period in Manchester United’s history, but then even he has been something of a peripheral figure over the last year.
Now all is said and done, the defining player of the Ten Hag era probably has to be one who started well, only to struggle amid mounting difficulties. Like the one who scored what happened to be the Ten Hag era’s final goal, and then scored the first following Ten Hag’s dismissal.
Perceptions of Casemiro generally tracked with perceptions of Ten Hag’s United. He, like his manager, was considered a transformative presence in that first year, particularly up until the Carabao Cup final, although cracks began to appear towards the end of that season.
Last season, as Ten Hag leaned into a more transitional style of play, Casemiro became the symbol of its failure: a 32-year-old holding midfielder asked to protect his own box, arrive late in the opposition’s, and cover the huge expanses of space left in between.
Both became lightning rods for criticism as a result, with plenty of the scrutiny on their performances justified. It reached a stage, late last season, when few expected either to still be in place at the start of this campaign. But they were. And they still were until the middle of Monday morning.
Unfortunately for Ten Hag, a manager is easier to dispense with than a midfielder who has two-plus-one years left to run on a contract worth up to £300,000 ($390,000) per week.
And so Casemiro outlived an era he defined. But not only that, he also ushered in a new one with two goals in this emphatic 5-2 victory over Leicester City in the Carabao Cup fourth round.
Granted, he was part of a strikingly strong line-up selected by interim manager Ruud van Nistelrooy. Leicester, meanwhile, made nine changes, mindful of a trip to Portman Road in the Premier League this weekend. This was not a game to read much into, particularly from a United perspective.
But it was another chance to see Casemiro in a system that does not stretch him beyond capacity. Alongside a roving destroyer like Manuel Ugarte, he had greater freedom to join in with the attack on the edge of the opposition’s penalty area or try the ambitious passes he frequently attempts to pull off.
Ambitious shots too, for that matter. Casemiro is not averse to lining one up from long distance, and his judgement can be questionable, but his 30-yarder that cannoned around the net after beating goalkeeper Danny Ward was a spectacular way to start the night.
“I was delighted for Case,” Van Nistelrooy told MUTV, when asked to explain why he celebrated Casemiro’s first so vigorously on the touchline. “The way he’s been training, helping the team and the club, it’s such an example. You also see the crowd’s reaction, you see what he’s about. I’m delighted to have him around.”
The second was hit almost just as hard, despite being converted from just the five yards out this time. He may have had a hat-trick too, but another attempt hit the upright.
This performance not only followed Casemiro’s equaliser at West Ham on Sunday — a goal that was perhaps a controversial VAR check away from prolonging Ten Hag’s tenure further — but also an impressive, more controlled showing in the 2-1 win against Brentford. The Stretford End serenaded two United figures as they made their way back down the tunnel at full time against Leicester. Van Nistelrooy, predictably, and then Casemiro.
This is not to say there will be no more days like the 4-0 defeat at Crystal Palace in May, or the 3-0 defeat to Liverpool only at the start of last month — games where the responsibility for United’s shambolic displays was laid firmly at Casemiro’s door.
But Van Nistelrooy made a point of responding to the post-Liverpool criticism. “It was so hard, he was almost the one to blame for that game,” he said. “It’s not fair. He didn’t deserve that. It was totally not true. If you see him train and prepare for games, with the history and all he has achieved with five Champions Leagues. He is an example for us.”
Whether he will be an example for the next man to follow Van Nistelrooy on the Old Trafford touchline remains to be seen.
In the various speculative mock-ups of how Ruben Amorim’s United might line up, whether on social or in traditional media, Ugarte and Mainoo has been the assumed midfield pairing. At 23 and 19 years old respectively, they will be the foundation for United’s next manager to build upon.
Casemiro is not the future. But he is still very much part of United’s present, out of which that future will be built. He arguably defined the Ten Hag era more than any other player but that does not mean he will not have at least some part to play in whatever comes next.
(Top photo: Will Palmer/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
