Casemiro is loving his time at Manchester United so far (Picture: Getty Images)
Casemiro has earned a lot of well-deserved praise for his performances in a Manchester United shirt, but he is also keen to dish out the compliments, naming five teammates as he hails the quality in the squad at Old Trafford.
The Brazilian has been superb since arriving from Real Madrid in the summer, not just living up to his reputation as a world class holding midfielder, but adding an attacking threat as well.
The 31-year-old opened the scoring in Manchester United’s 2-0 Carabao Cup final win over Newcastle on Sunday, already his fifth goal for the club.
Casemiro has wielded immense influence in United’s resurgence under Erik ten Hag, but he knows his teammates have also been very good, picking out five notable names in the Red Devils first team.
‘Every team has its own way of playing. It’s true here I have a greater role in attack,’ the Brazilian told United Review.
‘The style of play here is different, the build-up play, the manager, the league, the club are all different. Every club has their own way of playing, the most important thing is adapting quickly, that’s what I try to do.
‘I’ll say it again, it’s impossible to do it on your own. There’s the quality of my teammates. There’s Licha [Lisandro Martinez] and [Raphael] Varane – high quality players. Christian [Eriksen] who I played alongside for a long time, another exceptional player. Fredinho [Fred], another excellent player, then there’s Bruno [Fernandes] who plays a bit further forward, a world-class player.’
Casemiro has been a huge part of Manchester United’s vast improvement this season (Picture: Getty Images)
Speaking in January, Ten Hag praised the ‘magnificent’ midfielder, delighted that he has so many strings to his bow in the middle of the park.
‘We know he’s a great player and that midfield at Real Madrid, with [Toni] Kroos and [Luka] Modric, it was great,’ said the United boss.
‘He’s capable of that [scoring goals]. We see him as a part of it offensively and he enjoys it as well, when he can come [into] it. What I like is dynamic football with variations, with many positional switches so we have to make the opponent think so that we can take the benefit of it.
‘Casemiro is magnificent. In front of the back line, always taking good positions, in and out of position. And he can deal with the ball, he can give the right pass. So, he can accelerate the game and if necessary, he can score.’
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‘It’s impossible to do it on your own.’