Manchester United are having no luck on or off the pitch at the moment and that was apparent against Tottenham Hotspur.
The Red Devils were defeated by the LilyWhites in what was Manchester United’s 12th loss of the season, which sees them remain 15th in the table.
United had some bad performers against Spurs, but none got more stick than Casemiro, who was drafted in thanks to a midfield injury crisis for Ruben Amorim.
Casemiro was poor, but was it entirely his fault? Micah Richards thinks otherwise.
Micah Richards defends Casemiro and slams United centre-backs
The former Manchester City defender turned pundit actually defended the heavily criticised Brazilian.
“A lot of people are quick to call Casemiro, but he needs help in there [United’s midfield],” Richards said on Match of The Day 2. “His legs are not what they were, but he’s still got quality on the ball.”
Richards then went on to explain that the centre-backs did nothing to help the struggling Casemiro.
He continues: “When you play three at the back, the whole point is, one of your centre-backs should engage.
“They don’t engage, then you had Spurs players in the pockets, and you had three centre-halves doing nothing. Three centre-halves marking one player.”
Amorim’s system isn’t working with these players, and the disjointed relationship between midfield and defence is a major catalyst in this.
Manchester United disjointed, says Richards
Richards further touched on the flawed Amorim tactics against Spurs, indicating too many United players were operating as individuals, rather than as a unit.
Richards continued: “To top it off, look at the distance between Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro. They just didn’t get it right. Did he [Amorim] as Bruno to play to the right?
“You can get your structure in there, and if Fernandes is gonna jump, you need one of your centre-halves to jump as well.
“You’ve all got to work together, instead, they were working as individuals.”
He’d be absolutely right. Bruno was doing too much against Tottenham, whilst others weren’t doing enough. It was somewhat of a shambles.