Erik ten Hag revealed he had spoken to Casemiro to explain his reasoning for signing another holding midfielder as the Brazilian prepares for a battle with Manuel Ugarte to get into the Manchester United team.
Casemiro endured a disappointing second season at the club after his £60m move from Real Madrid and his reputation took a further battering two weeks ago when he was at fault for both of Liverpool’s first-half goals in their 3-0 win at Old Trafford.
The 32-year-old was taken off at half-time and replaced by 20-year-old league debutant Toby Collyer. He was linked with a move to Turkey during the international break, with their transfer window only closing this coming Wednesday, but he is keen to stay and fight for his place.
Ten Hag sees Ugarte’s £42m deadline day arrival from Paris Saint-Germain as a move that will add competition to the squad, with two players now capable of playing the holding midfield role, but he did hold discussions with five-time Champions League winner Casemiro to explain his thinking.
“I normally do talk to him and in this case I did as well but players in our club know you are playing at this level there is always competition, they also know you can only be successful if you have a squad that covers,” said Ten Hag.
“You can’t have a squad where you only have one player who can cover this – you need at least two for each position, sometimes it is three for two. That is okay when you have very robust players.
“All the players will understand – then it’s about what is the best fit for the team. They have to prove it, the key word, they have to take responsibility and win games for the club.”
Ten Hag said the ‘player who benefits most’ will get the most minutes. Casemiro is determined to bounce back from his humbling afternoon against Liverpool, when Ugarte was unveiled before kick-off but hadn’t been signed in time to play.
He didn’t feature for PSG at all before making the move, but he played all but 11 minutes of Uruguay’s two World Cup qualifiers during the international break to boost his match fitness. He was the last international to return to Carrington, only arriving back for Thursday afternoon’s training session, but he is set to be named in the matchday squad to face Southampton.
Ten Hag revealed he had been monitoring Ugarte since he played for Sporting against his Ajax side in a Champions League group fixture in December 2021 and explained what his role would be at United.
“He’s been on my radar a long time, he played for Sporting Lisbon vs Ajax,” he said.
“He’s coming in as a late transfer but he’s playing a very important position, connecting the defending with attacking and attacking with defending, communication is very important to guide the team and lead the team, make the connections between defence and attack.
“We have to help and guide him about how to play that role but what we have seen, he knows a lot already and has the profile where we think he can fit in that role. We have to teach him some details about how it works in our team.”
Despite Ugarte’s arrival and Casemiro’s status as one of United’s highest earners, Ten Hag still expects to see the Brazil international play a part this season and shrugged off any long-term concerns about his performance against Liverpool before the international break.
“You definitely need him for sure, of course I speak with him about the situation, everyone can have a bad [day] at the office,” he said.
“Of course it’s a different approach, he is experienced. It’s not the first time I guess he’s had to deal with a bad game, he has to overcome it this well. But it’s normal in life you have highs and lows.
“In your life and in the life of a football player, for a football player there are many observing this and have an opinion on this and you have to deal with this. He knows how to deal with it. Nobody’s career goes only up, no team pattern only goes up. Then you have to deal with it – then it is about what is the end result.”