As Casemiro skewed a very simple ball right to the nearest blue shirt, you could have been forgiven for thinking the Manchester United midfielder had developed a counter attack of colour blindness.
During Saturday’s lackluster 2-0 victory over Everton at Old Trafford, Casemiro turned the ball over six times in the first 20 minutes. Now, passing has never been the Brazilian’s strong suit. He has always been a destroyer, not a distributor.
Even by Casemiro’s ‘hot potato’ standards, this was a terrible exhibition of inaccuracy, with a pass completion rate of only 75%, which is nothing short of dismal for a footballer playing in his position against extremely limited competition (WhoScored).
Manchester United needs a Casemiro replacement
Compare this to Exequiel Palacios’ performance just over 24 hours later.
Palacios, who has been linked with Manchester United by BILD and is one of several prospective Casemiro successors being considered, scarcely missed a beat in a magnificent performance as Bayer Leverkusen stretched their Bundesliga advantage over Bayern Munich to ten points.
Palacios had 157 touches to Casemiro’s 83 and 148 passes to Casemiro’s 70, with a near-perfect completion rate of 96 percent. Leverkusen’s deep-lying midfield metronome concluded a performance reminiscent of head coach Xabi Alonso’s own playing days with a beautiful clipped ball to set up Florian Wirtz’s late winner at home against Wolfsburg.
No Red Devils manager, whether Erik ten Hag or another, will be able to build a team capable of controlling possession and dominating even middling Everton-level opposition with a player as reckless and wayward as Casemiro in the number six spot.
Exequiel Palacios may revolutionize United
As Everton dominated possession and became the latest team to have over 20 attempts on goal against Ten Hag’s side, United appeared to be in desperate need of what many on the continent refer to as a’steering wheel’ midfielder.
Someone capable of taking command and dictating events. Imagine a United equivalent of Manchester City’s maestro Rodri.
Palacios, apparently worth over £35 million, may be just that. Not only is he a long-term Casemiro successor, but he is also capable of converting Manchester United from a squad that plays in spurts to one that can trade end-to-end basketball for 90 minutes of serenity and control.