Casemiro's second season is proving more difficult than his first, as is his manager at Old Trafford. Photo: Getty Images/Michael Regan
A grandstand finish, a homegrown match winner and a precious victory snatched from the jaws of what, for 92 minutes, looked like a seventh defeat in 10 matches. It's hard to overstate the importance of Manchester United's latest win over Brentford.
But if Scott McTominay's two goals in this dramatic smash and grab are to be a genuine turning point in United's dismal season, rather than a fleeting resistance that has masked numerous cracks, the manager must address Casemiro's problem. and problems the size of Andre Onan.
Opponents attack both players, often with great success, and given the importance of their roles, especially at a time when United are missing all of their main defence, Ten Hag will have to solve two huge headaches.
Onana continues to plumb new depths, with his terrible attempt to keep out Matthias Jensen's shot perhaps even worse than a similar mistake against Bayern Munich, and it has already reached the stage where a spell away from the team may not help Ten Hag's £47m summer signing sterling. any harm.
He's confident on the court, he's causing panic and, according to Opta xG metrics, he's conceded almost two more league goals than would be expected given the quality of shots on target, the second-worst record in the top flight this season. .
Andre Onana's mistakes have cost Manchester United dearly this season. Photo: Getty Images/James Gill
Even the Cameroonian's distribution – one of the main reasons Ten Hag signed him from Inter Milan – was poor.
With Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans repeating their partnership with Leicester four and a half years ago in central midfield in the absence of the injured Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez, Ten Hag did not trust his team to play from the back and instead advised them to go deep.
But there was no discernible difference in the quality of Onana's long-range delivery to that of David De Gea, whom he replaced at Old Trafford, and too many of his passes resulted in possession being quickly handed over to Brentford.
Onana's struggles would have been enough of a problem, not least given the absence of Ten Hag from the long list of key defenders, but the rapid deterioration of Casemiro's position in central midfield compounded the problems.
The man Ten Hag described last season as “the cement between the stones” is starting to show signs of decay and just 14 months after he forked out £70m to sign the 31-year-old from Real Madrid, United are already Looks like they'll need to look for a top-class defensive midfielder next summer, by which time Casemiro's £350,000-a-week contract will run for another two years.
Brentford have become Ten Hag's first. paired Sofyan Amrabat in central midfield with Casemiro, and there are concerns that United did not look better protected from this. But it's still early days, and the growing reality is that Casemiro needs a partner. Cobby Mine has yet to return to United.
There are problems all over the field, including in midfield. Photo: Getty Images/Ash Donelon
Casemiro's catch in midfield would have been unthinkable last season, but it was the Brazilian's error that led to Brentford's goal, and his form this season has been so poor that no one could tell. that he was not replaced during the break.
Galatasaray head coach Okan Buruc said his side deliberately targeted Casemiro in their 3-2 Champions League win over United at Old Trafford on Tuesday. The worry is not only that Casemiro is struggling to get off the ground these days, but he also doesn't see the danger – think how easily Kerem Aktürkoglu was able to run unchallenged into the box to score Galatasaray's second equalizer – and became sloppy and ponderous. in possession. Amrabat's unnecessary foul, which resulted in Crystal Palace scoring from a free-kick in a 1-0 win at Old Trafford, followed Casemiro turning the ball over cheaply, and it was a similar story against Brentford.
< p>Casemiro did it. played the ball back to Harry Maguire as he received it surrounded by three Brentford bodies, but his planned pass to Amrabat was read too easily by Brian Mbeumo, before the Brazilian then dived in a failed attempt to win possession back. Three more errors followed: at least one from Maguire or Amrabat failed to cover the space after Yoan Wissa momentarily appeared to intercept the ball, Victor Lindelof got his feet tangled and failed miserably to clear the danger, and finally Onana botched his save. . It's impossible to compete at this level with so many unforced individual errors and such passive defense. “It sums up the whole season,” Ten Hag said of the goal, before emphasizing that victory should serve as a springboard to better things.
“This should be a turning point and a reset in our approach and attitude as a team , and to individuals. This must be a turning point.”
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