Ten Hag hails ‘perfect mindset’ of ‘excellent’ United star who’s stepped up in recent matches

Erik ten Hag is pleased with the job Casemiro is doing in defence while deputising for the sidelined centre-halves.

The Manchester United stalwart has always been a mainstay in the starting 11 when fit, but he has been made to navigate out of his comfort zone in the past two matches when partnering Harry Maguire – the only fit centre-back – in front of Andre Onana.

Both games have been tumultuous ones, initially with the Reds’ six-goal thriller in the FA Cup semi-final win over Coventry City, followed by a cagey clash with bottom-of-the-table Sheffield United, in which the away side led twice in the 90 minutes.

It remains to be seen when Casemiro will return to his usual position alongside Kobbie Mainoo in midfield. Lisandro Martinez is expected to resume training with the squad next week, so you’d hope that he can make his long-awaited comeback sooner rather than later.

Ten Hag lauds Casemiro’s showings at CB

Still, Ten Hag isn’t particularly in any rush to rid the Brazilian of his new role. In today’s match programme, he wrote (via Simon Stone): “Casemiro has only occasionally played centre-back but he has filled in and alongside Harry Maguire, done an excellent job.

“He has approached the job with a perfect mindset. He and Harry have also provided valuable experience and leadership, along with the example set by Bruno [Fernandes] game-after-game.”