Rio Ferdinand has explained how one Manchester United star has completed his redemption arc at Old Trafford this season.
Manchester United appear to have finally hit their stride this season, after recording three consecutive Premier League victories.
After a challenging start that brought early pressure on Ruben Amorim, the Reds have shown encouraging signs of progress with wins over Sunderland, Liverpool, and Brighton.
The victory at Anfield earlier this month was a standout moment, but following it up with another confident display and result against Brighton may have been even more significant for Amorim’s side.
In recent seasons, United have often risen to the occasion in big fixtures but struggled to maintain that same energy against supposedly lesser opponents. This time, however, they kept their focus.
Next up, United travel to the City Ground to take on Nottingham Forest, now led by newly appointed manager Sean Dyche. The in-form Reds will be looking to extend their winning run and continue their upward momentum with another three points.
Ferdinand explains how Casemiro completed redemption arc
One of United’s most important players so far this season has been Casemiro, who has been excellent at the base of the midfield.
Amorim’s side looked worse when the Brazilian came off against Brighton on the weekend. In fact, they have only conceded three goals while he’s been on the pitch this term.
At one point last term under Amorim, the five-time Champions League winner was at the bottom of the pecking order in midfield, with Toby Collyer among those getting minutes ahead of him, but Casemiro has turned things around since then.
Rio Ferdinand has spoken about the veteran midfielder’s redemption arc and explained how Casemiro would have been approaching the situation he was in last season.
“That could have absolutely humiliated him,” Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel when discussing Casemiro being out of the picture. “Listen, football players are intelligent in a football environment and they all smell where they are in the pecking order.
“Every player in that squad would have known that Casemiro was at the back of that pack, do you know how embarrassing that would have been for him?
“But for him to roll his sleeves up and say, ‘no, no, no, you all know I’m better than him, you all know I’m the best holding midfielder at the club, watch this space’.
“It’s grit, grit. Toby Collyer is at West Brom now and that’s no disrespect, I think he’s a really good young player with a bright future, but I’m just talking about the element of Casemiro having that grit and determination to roll his sleeves up and say, ‘you’re not going to embarrass me, you’re not going to roll me out of this club like that after what I’ve done, let’s go’.
“That’s what I think a lot of fans would have liked from the likes of Rashford, Sancho and Antony; especially Rashford because he is home grown.”
Casemiro vs Liverpool was important moment
Earlier this month, Casemiro had a full circle moment. When United played Liverpool towards the start of last season, he was replaced at half-time for Collyer because he was having his worst ever game in a United shirt.
It seemed like it was the beginning of the end for the midfielder at Old Trafford, but when United beat Liverpool earlier this month, Amorim started the Brazilian even though he had played 180 minutes with his country in Asia.
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Everyone expected Manuel Ugarte to start the game, but Casemiro was trusted and produced a solid performance against the Premier League champions.
Harry Maguire and Casemiro are both leaders within United’s squad and both players have managed to completely change the perception around their names in the last year, and Amorim will be hoping others can follow in their footsteps.
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