André Onana delivers verdict on Casemiro’s centre-back performances for Man United

André Onana has addressed having to play with Casemiro at centre-back with Manchester United plagued with injuries under Erik ten Hag.

This season has not only seen Manchester United perform poorly in the Premier League and Champions League but also seen Erik ten Hag deal with an unimaginable injury crisis.

United have had over sixty absences due to injury this season, with many key players, such as Luke Shaw, Lisandro Martínez, and Rasmus Højlund, out for long periods when the team needed consistent players.

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The injuries have hurt the team the most in defence, with André Onana having to play with 13 different centre-back combinations across the season. At times this season, Victor Lindelöf and Willy Kambwala have had to occupy the full-back positions.

This has caused significant instability throughout the team, with Casemiro’s performances as an auxiliary centre-back being a recent talking point.

It is not his natural position, and there have been occasions against Crystal Palace and Arsenal when he has been rightly criticised for being at fault for multiple goals that the club has conceded.

However, Onana has defended Casemiro, saying he has just been doing the job asked of him during a pragmatic time at the club.

“Harry is playing with Case [Casemiro]. We don’t know if he likes it or not,” Onana told Gary Neville on The Overlap. “Case is playing centre-back. You know, these are the things. But we have to be pragmatic. Yeah, and we have to look what is best for the team.

If I have to play striker, I will play striker. And Cases is doing a fantastic job for us. He’s playing there because the team needs him there. And Diogo [Dalot[ sometimes is playing left-back because the team needs him. Yeah. And we can go point by point.

“Sometimes Bruno plays centre-back. Yeah. I run against Liverpool. Bruno was centre-back because they needed him there. So we have to look what is the best for the team.

“Because for me, at the end of the day, we are Manchester United players. And when you are here, that means you have a good level.”