[MUFC OK]

If he wasnt up to start this match vs McT then we should never have signed him. Reinforces the view that he was 100% not an ETH signing and that nothing has really changed at the club. We are still a mess. Only spend big when team is losing and fans are protesting. All on the owners and the execs they appoint.

He should be but hasn't played 90 mins yet, with Scott playing well he's been hard to drop. That said Casemiro's experience of big games and defensive capabilities were sorely missed in the first half.

 

[Gordon Godot]

He should be but hasn't played 90 mins yet, with Scott playing well he's been hard to drop. That said Casemiro's experience of big games and defensive capabilities were sorely missed in the first half.

And who is that down to? For all McT has player better, lets step a step back. One of the most decorated DMs in world football vs McT. Seriously? Against the best team in league and quite possibly Europe. The only conclusion is he is not an ETH signing.

 

[Jericho]

And who is that down to? For all McT has player better, lets step a step back. One of the most decorated DMs in world football vs McT. Seriously? Against the best team in league and quite possibly Europe. The only conclusion is he is not an ETH signing.

But he was playing well and we were winning.
Now that that’s over I’d be starting Casemiro in the next game.

 

[MUFC OK]

And who is that down to? For all McT has player better, lets step a step back. One of the most decorated DMs in world football vs McT. Seriously? Against the best team in league and quite possibly Europe. The only conclusion is he is not an ETH signing.

The manager obviousyt, but I don't subscribe to the idea that ETH didn't want Casemiro. However we know FDJ was his first choice. In a big game like yesterday it was a no-brainer who to go with, I agree.

 

[Gordon Godot]

The manager obviousyt, but I don't subscribe to the idea that ETH didn't want Casemiro. However we know FDJ was his first choice. In a big game like yesterday it was a no-brainer who to go with, I agree.

I think thats still missing the basic point. He's been here 6 weeks already, more silverware than any other midfielder on our books or all added together. If he's not ready to a good 60 minutes in this match then there's somethign wrong.

 

[MUFC OK]

I think thats still missing the basic point. He's been here 6 weeks already, more silverware than any other midfielder on our books or all added together. If he's not ready to a good 60 minutes in this match then there's somethign wrong.

He was ready in my opinion. ETH picked McT as he's played well lately in a run of wins. I think it's as simple as that.

 

[EireRed_GS]

id start him at least one of the Europa games. and prob Everton away. We really need him to be proper match fit and raring to go.. provides a great anchor point we currently dont have in the MF.

Get that area of the pitch functioning, watch the rest of the team fall into place.

 

[Gordon Godot]

He was ready in my opinion. ETH picked McT as he's played well lately in a run of wins. I think it's as simple as that.

I dont agree, if it is that simple then ETH made a huge error. You simply dont spend that much on the most decorated DM currently playing at the top level and then not start him in the biggest match of the season. Its insanity. McT at a good level is still so far from Casemiro. Let get real. And if he genuinely now is not we should never have signed another past it player.

The way City walked through our midfield from the first minute was embarrassing, and I felt ETH did a lot of blame shifting in his post match. That midfield was a complete gift to City

 

[OpenIntrovert]

He was ready in my opinion. ETH picked McT as he's played well lately in a run of wins. I think it's as simple as that.

Correct. Some of the posters here dont really understand man management. You choose players who have been performing and McTominay is playing because he has performed well. ETH has already shown that he will change if players dont perform so i am not sure what the worry is here.

 

[MUFC OK]

Correct. Some of the posters here dont really understand man management. You choose players who have been performing and McTominay is playing because he has performed well. ETH has already shown that he will change if players dont perform so i am not sure what the worry is here.

Agree with that. Doesn't send the best message if McT was dropped here. It's the managers call and he could have gone with either from the start justifiably. I personally would have gone Casemiro for the solidity and big game experience but can see why he didn't yesterday.

 

[Glorio]

And who is that down to? For all McT has player better, lets step a step back. One of the most decorated DMs in world football vs McT. Seriously? Against the best team in league and quite possibly Europe. The only conclusion is he is not an ETH signing.

Playing form over reputation? I'll take that thanks.

If we want to get rid of the complacency that has taken root over the last few years, performances have to be rewarded over reputation.

ETH sees them in training and when Casemiro has come on, he's blown hot and cold so far, so it's not like he's been knocking hard on the door with his performances.

 

[Iker Quesadillas]

Correct. Some of the posters here dont really understand man management. You choose players who have been performing and McTominay is playing because he has performed well.

Ancelotti is generally considered one of the best man-managers and I can assure you he would not have done this.

Things being mostly equal, sure, you pick the player who is performing better. But things aren't mostly equal here. There is a big gap in quality between Casemiro and McTominay in ideal conditions. You don't pick the worse player as a starter indefinitely just because they're doing OK. McTominay hasn't been world class recently or anything.

 

[RedDevil@84]

I don't really buy the playing form over reputation type of arguments. McT has been playing well, for his level, but nothing out of the world. So either ETH dropped the ball with his strategy or Casemiro is genuinely not really fit to play 90 mins of high intensity football nowadays.

 

[Cassidy]

I don't really buy the playing form over reputation type of arguments. McT has been playing well, for his level, but nothing out of the world. So either ETH dropped the ball with his strategy or Casemiro is genuinely not really fit to play 90 mins of high intensity football nowadays.

Or he didn't pick the player based on his name and rewarded McT for his good performances

 

[MikeKing]

He doesn't seem fit and when he does play he seems off the pace. It's almost similar to DVB in that you can't honestly say he should play more if you look at his performances. Hopefully he'll get minutes and can be an integral part to this team for a few years, if not it's a huge waste of space and money.

 

[VP89]

Id guess Casemiro now starts our games ahead.

 

[RedDevil@84]

Or he didn't pick the player based on his name and rewarded McT for his good performances

That would mean McT thumps Casemiro in training all the time.

 

[Chief123]

It really is captain hindsight material saying he should have started. Just like the suggestions Shaw should have started.

In our previous 4 games, no one was saying after the wins that Casemiro should have started ahead of McTominay.

I’m not a big fan of McTominay but he warranted his start after his performances in the previous games.

If Casemiro had started, I’m convinced we probably still would have lost. People would then be asking why ETH changed a winning lineup that did so well in previous games.

 

[bosnian_red]

Again it's not a big deal that he didn't start. Mctominay was playing well and deserved his spot. Casemiro will break in. It's been 1 month. Ten Hag - most importantly - is sending a clear message to everyone that if you do well, you'll keep your spot, regardless of opponent or fixture. That's a healthy mentality to have.

 

[We need an rvn]

It seems to be a bit ridiculous to spend £70m on an established serial winner with RM and not have him start a match by now.

Not blaming ETH as it was clear his preference was FDJ, but makes you wonder what is up as Casemiro has played plenty of high paced, physical matches I'm sure in the CL

 

[poleglass red]

It really is captain hindsight material saying he should have started. Just like the suggestions Shaw should have started.

In our previous 4 games, no one was saying after the wins that Casemiro should have started ahead of McTominay.

I’m not a big fan of McTominay but he warranted his start after his performances in the previous games.

If Casemiro had started, I’m convinced we probably still would have lost. People would then be asking why ETH changed a winning lineup that did so well in previous games.

Casemiro should have started alongside McT not in place of. This notion that we can't use our squad needs to stop. We aren't yet a top side, we were playing the best team possibly in world football, we need to adapt, we can't go toe to toe with City. I think ETH is being stubborn in regards to Casemiro, it seems like this was more a board signing than his. Would we have won with Casemiro starting, probably not, but maybe we wouldn't have been out of the game after 8 mins. If he's not fit, give him 60 mins, then sub him, he's not going to get match fitness on the bench.He's a legit quality defensive midfielder, we were playing against arguably the best midfielder in the league, and we started with McT and Eriksen.

 

[Chief123]

Casemiro should have started alongside McT not in place of. This notion that we can't use our squad needs to stop. We aren't yet a top side, we were playing the best team possibly in world football, we need to adapt, we can't go toe to toe with City. I think ETH is being stubborn in regards to Casemiro, it seems like this was more a board signing than his. Would we have won with Casemiro starting, probably not, but maybe we wouldn't have been out of the game after 8 mins. If he's not fit, give him 60 mins, then sub him, he's not going to get match fitness on the bench.He's a legit quality defensive midfielder, we were playing against arguably the best midfielder in the league, and we started with McT and Eriksen.

A key part of our success this season, if not the most important part has been Eriksen’s ability to pass the ball from deep and be the dictator and start of most of our moves. It’s been talked about a lot on how he has brought something to the team that we’ve not had for years.

So by starting Mctominay and Casemiro as you’ve suggested, we lose that straight away. No one passes out from the back like Eriksen does for us.

Like I said, there are so many great managers like us who would have done things differently in hindsight.

Majority of fans would have wanted and expected the lineup we had starting on Sunday.

 

[poleglass red]

A key part of our success this season, if not the most important part has been Eriksen’s ability to pass the ball from deep and be the dictator and start of most of our moves. It’s been talked about a lot on how he has brought something to the team that we’ve not had for years.

So by starting Mctominay and Casemiro as you’ve suggested, we lose that straight away. No one passes out from the back like Eriksen does for us.

Like I said, there are so many great managers like us who would have done things differently in hindsight.

Majority of fans would have wanted and expected the lineup we had starting on Sunday.

nah not for me, we lost midfield right from kick of anyway with a mid 2 of McT and Eriksen. Runners weren't being tracked, tackles weren't being made. Eriksen could still have started in place of Bruno, if you wanted that out ball.I'm not sure that highlighted part is true, I know in my local supporters club, most in our whatsapp group were hoping to see Casemiro start. It's all hindsight now I guess, but for me this was the game that we needed Casemiro in. Next 3 games are Everton and the Cypriot team twice, will he play in any of those. I guess good chance to get his match fitness up, but these are games we'd expect to dominate possession in.

 

[Polar]

I expected Casemiro to go straight into our team and reinforce our midfield. When so doesn’t happen I’m a little bit worried. Casemiro should be in good enough shape by now, but why does ETH hesitate to play him?

 

[TwoSheds]

Doooooooooommmmmmm!

 

[UnitedRepublic]

I just think it was because we had a winning formula probably why he hasn’t started yet. I belive as the season goes on we’ll see a midfield of Fred , Casemiro & Eriksen/Bruno.

 

[Cassidy]

That would mean McT thumps Casemiro in training all the time.

Or just has had more time to understand how ETH wants the role played

 

[Foxbatt]

I think it was the right decision to go with McTominay. But Casemiro should start playing with Fred and ETH should rotate Bruno.

 

[izak]

Needs to start the next games now, no more excuses.

 

[Tom Van Persie]

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[Pogue Mahone]

I just think it was because we had a winning formula probably why he hasn’t started yet. I belive as the season goes on we’ll see a midfield of Fred , Casemiro & Eriksen/Bruno.

Definitely this.

 

[Dr Foo]

I hope him not starting against city was down to match fitness/ acclimatising to PL, if not it's naivety from EtH which he will learn. Casemiro plus McT would have helped Vs City

 

[RedSky]

Definitely this.

Yup, this has given Ten Hag a reason to experiment a bit more. He'll start against Everton.

 

[croadyman]

I just think it was because we had a winning formula probably why he hasn’t started yet. I belive as the season goes on we’ll see a midfield of Fred , Casemiro & Eriksen/Bruno.

Yeah confident he will find his feet in this team once he has a run of games under his belt

 

[Bobski]

Thought he was decent to good. Quite active in a slothful way, always available, strong in the air, at times sloppy with the passing and he must move better than he makes it look to move.

 

[Orton]

He was fine. We looked a lot more open at the back when he went off. Should probably start the weekend.

 

[Ekeke]

Much better passer than McTom. Dominated in the air tonight with 8 aerials won

 

[Ludens the Red]

If ever there was a game that showed why he should be playing ahead of Mctominay that was it. He wasn’t brilliant by any means, although the stick he was taking in the match day thread first had was ott.
It’s like the narrative had been decided that he was how he was cos he was ‘physically past it’

In reality he was barely tested physically he was just sloppy, probably because he’s barely played. But pretty much every pass he made was forward and he was cutting out their long balls well. He was pretty much where you expect a 6 to be on the pitch too.

McTominay came on, made about four backwards passes, none forward, got done twice and was running away from his position. I know Mctominay will be back in Sunday but hopefully long term ten hag can see the difference in quality.

 

[DarkXaero]

There's an obvious difference between him and McTominay on the ball. And his positioning is far far superior to McTominay. Yes, he didn't move great off the ball tonight, but the agenda against him in the matchday thread was ridiculous. He needs playing time to be judged, and in his second start, I don't think he did himself any harm today.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

The two posts above are bang on.

He’ll only get better too as he settles in and plays more with his new teammates.