[Pronewbie]

Not sure what people were watching. Yes he misplaced some over-the-top balls but his first 3 long passes for example were sublime and he made some good tackles and interceptions especially 1 just outside of Dortmund's box purely from anticipation which si one of those things people take for granted. Thought he had a 7+ performance.

I'm more concerned about Mount.

 

[Banana Republic]

My personal concern, is the fall off in Casemiro’s performances after coming back from suspension, later in the last season, will continue into the new season.
You can’t deny the class, but sometimes it feels like the honeymoon period is over and he’s mentally and physically on the downward slope at times.
Pre-season is no time to judge of course, with older players generally needing a bit more time to get fit and sharp enough.
We really need to get that alternative class CDM fairly soon.

 

[arthurka]

I just think he has been well off pace.

 

[Tom Van Persie]

With the Saudis paying silly money for mercenaries, I’d be letting them know that this fella is available for a daft fee.

Another silly signing because of his name rather than suitability to the league and squad. Amrabat benches him IMO, and the money generated could be used to sign Lavia.

One of the worst posts I've seen on here.

 

[lex talionis]

With the Saudis paying silly money for mercenaries, I’d be letting them know that this fella is available for a daft fee.

Another silly signing because of his name rather than suitability to the league and squad. Amrabat benches him IMO, and the money generated could be used to sign Lavia.

Christ

 

[Indian Red]

My personal concern, is the fall off in Casemiro’s performances after coming back from suspension, later in the last season, will continue into the new season.
You can’t deny the class, but sometimes it feels like the honeymoon period is over and he’s mentally and physically on the downward slope at times.
Pre-season is no time to judge of course, with older players generally needing a bit more time to get fit and sharp enough.
We really need to get that alternative class CDM fairly soon.

Wasn't he excellent towards the end of the season? IIRC he had a drop in form after suspension and regained form after a few matches towards the end of last season.

 

[The United]

I think we have to accept that his short (mis) passing can cause us some problems in the back once in a while in the game. This is not based on one or two games. He did it a lot in games last season as well. I love this guy, but that careless tendency of his is very annoying for his standards sometimes.

On the other hand, his long passes are like Carrick's.

 

[garelo]

there were times today when he was completely isolated because Mount and Bruno were so high up the pitch and left him alone against 4-5 Lens players. ETH has to make it sure that one of our 8s would always drop deep alongside Case, so that our defenders and goalie can always have options to pass the ball to.

 

[eselfor]

He goes to ground too quickly and too eagerly. It says a lot about his positioning and acceleration. Going to ground that much is a recipe for mistimed tackles and red cards.

 

[sillwuka]

His tackling was superb today.

Passing very erratic though.

 

[Crimson King]

With the Saudis paying silly money for mercenaries, I’d be letting them know that this fella is available for a daft fee.

Another silly signing because of his name rather than suitability to the league and squad. Amrabat benches him IMO, and the money generated could be used to sign Lavia.

This is why I miss the newbie forum system.

 

[Escobar]

He needs 6-7 games to get going though. I dont except top form in the next few games

 

[pocco]

He needs 6-7 games to get going though. I dont except top form in the next few games

The worrying thing for me is, whilst it felt he had a good season overall last season, when you really dig down he was very inconsistent. Poor start, then his best form, then he was a bit flaky after coming back from injury, up and down for the second half of the season really. At first I thought his poor form coincided with him starting the season after the summer break, then his bans, but it seemed to continue too long after.

 

[Adisa]

We need Amrabat to take some of the load.

 

[Ayoba]

He was really good today. Defensively did his duties, good forward passes and even joined the attack a few times.

 

[Mr PG]

Been too adventurous lately going forward and misplaced a lot of passes in the process. Almost feels like he’s trying to be Modric. I’m still low key miffed at him … his lazy tackle was the one that dropped Rodrygo onto Kobbie’s ankle.

 

[Real Name]

Poor man's Caicedo.

 

[Cathy Ferguson]

A key player for us this season as well, probably the most important player. If he performs well we should do fine, if his legs are gone we will struggle to reach top4. Hopefully we can sign Amrabat but he is not a top4 player imho, but still a useful squad player.

 

[Chief123]

Seeing this thread get bumped I thought there was news of an injury!

 

[NinjaZombie]

That was the worst I've seen him perform for us.

 

[Chief123]

I absolutely love Casemiro, but if I’m honest I do have worries going into a new season especially with him as our only option in that position that has anywhere near the level needed.

I fear this may be the season where we see him struggle during the season due to being that bit older. There were matches in the second half of last season where he looked leggy and passive at times in midfield. Really hope he continues being top class for us again this season.

I can’t emphasise this enough. He worries me, a lot this season.

He looked absolutely miles off but I think even fully fit he will get exposed on his own. Teams are going to cut through us at ease.

 

[Idxomer]

Is there any chance we could sell him to the Saudis?

 

[E-mal]

He is getting on now and we need a starting DM as soon as possible.
He is so unfit and his legs are gone

 

[Brwned]

 

[Castia]

Worrying

And it’s not a one off he looked like this at the backend of last season

Legs look gone to the point of him sitting on the floor for 15 times a game

 

[arnie_ni]

Hopefully it just takes him a while to warm up but he was sluggish.

 

[Offside]

This is why we shouldn’t buy older players. Good for a few months then drop off a cliff. Same happened to Matic. There’s a reason these big clubs sell us these players. If you think I’m hysterical I said the same thing 5 months ago and nothing has changed.

 

[KeanoMagicHat]

Don’t know if we can get away with him playing on his own as DM with Mount and Bruno ahead of him, balance is off.

 

[Poborsky's hair]

It was quite expectable imho that he would have a lot of games like this, he shaked off some slow start and scored few goals as well which masked his never ending ball possession in midfield throughout the season. His reputation did him a lot of favour coming from well drilled Madrid side. We were not buying Modric unfortunately.

 

[pratyush_utd]

Not sure where i read but he usually starts slows and picks up pace as season progresses. His fitness level at the moment is pub level

 

[Leonzo1]

He doesn't have the legs to support a Bruno-Mount midfield. That's just not going to work and I hope ETH is going to realize this soon. Need to get Amrabat in as soon as possible.

 

[KeanoMagicHat]

This is why we shouldn’t buy older players. Good for a few months then drop off a cliff. Same happened to Matic. There’s a reason these big clubs sell us these players. If you think I’m hysterical I said the same thing 5 months ago and nothing has changed.

He was good for more than a few months, the end of last season he was a big reason we finished 3rd, people have short memories.

 

[BerryBerryShrew]

He did very well considering he was playing against a very technically proficient Wolves midfield on his own. MOTM for me.

 

[Stadjer]

This is why we shouldn’t buy older players. Good for a few months then drop off a cliff. Same happened to Matic. There’s a reason these big clubs sell us these players. If you think I’m hysterical I said the same thing 5 months ago and nothing has changed.

I think you are being hysterical

 

[Bondi77]

I thought he would be good for two seasons at least....I am starting to wonder now as he was shite tonight

 

[Guapa]

Love the guy but he's shot.Get someone in ASAP.

 

[Malone_Post]

Spending £70 million on a 31 year old midfielder who’s game relies massively on athleticism & has never played in the PL. What could possibly go wrong?

 

[JP77]

This is why we shouldn’t buy older players. Good for a few months then drop off a cliff. Same happened to Matic. There’s a reason these big clubs sell us these players. If you think I’m hysterical I said the same thing 5 months ago and nothing has changed.

It’s happening because he is having to carry the entire load of the midfield which he’s struggling to do. He’s once again playing with two attacking midfielders. Bruno and Mount will never ever be CMs no matter how many times we try it. They’re both attacking players and we are weakening ourselves trying to drop Bruno deeper to play Mount more attacking. We need a proper box to box energetic midfielder next to him, he’s carry too much of the midfield as there’s gaping holes everywhere and no balance.

 

[Telsim]

He will need some time to get going.

However, his backup must be bought yesterday. Next best moment is right now.

 

[Paul778]

Is this why it took ETH two months to play him last season - because he ate too much during the summer and took an age to get match fit?