May 12th 2024.
Casemiro, the makeshift defender for Manchester United, made a mistake that led to Arsenal's first goal in the first half. Gary Neville, while commentating for Sky Sports, criticized Casemiro for his "basic error" that allowed Leandro Trossard to score. Despite United's promising start, they fell behind when Ben White took advantage of a poor clearance from Andre Onana and passed the ball to Kai Havertz, who was kept onside by Casemiro.
Trossard quickly seized the opportunity and outpaced Aaron Wan-Bissaka before scoring a close-range goal from Havertz's cross, causing the Arsenal fans to erupt in celebration. Casemiro, who was playing as a center-back due to United's injured defenders, had received a lot of criticism after their 4-0 loss to Crystal Palace in their previous match. Some even suggested that he should retire in the summer, and after his questionable positioning led to Trossard's goal, Neville tore into the Brazilian midfielder, saying that someone with his experience in the game should have sensed the danger.
As Neville continued to analyze the goal, he pointed out how Casemiro was supposed to mark Trossard, but instead jogged slowly towards him, allowing the Arsenal player to stay onside. He then criticized Casemiro again for not reacting quickly enough to play Trossard offside, saying that he was in trouble once he didn't do so. Neville also praised Trossard for making a diagonal run inside the full-back, which caught Wan-Bissaka off guard and made it easy for Arsenal to score.
Neville and his fellow pundits in the studio had previously mentioned that Casemiro needed more protection while playing as a center-back, and in the first 25 minutes of the match, he had received that protection. However, his mistake showed that he still needed more support. Roy Keane, another former Manchester United captain and now a pundit for Sky Sports, also criticized Casemiro during the half-time break, saying that he failed to do the basics right.
Keane was referring to Casemiro's lack of urgency in sprinting towards Trossard, as well as his strange positioning while trying to anticipate the pass. He questioned why Casemiro was even attempting to make an angle for the goalkeeper, instead of just getting up the pitch. Keane also emphasized the importance of doing the basics right in a game as tough as this one, and how Casemiro's lack of doing so was causing trouble for his team.
In the end, despite his experience in the game, Casemiro's lackadaisical defending had led to Arsenal's goal, and Neville and Keane both agreed that there was no excuse for it. As the second half began, it was evident that Casemiro needed to step up his game and avoid making any more mistakes, if Manchester United wanted to have a chance at winning the match.
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