‘Casemiro isn’t an old bloke with Man Utd zimmer frame – calm the criticism’

The way Casemiro has been spoken about this week then you’d expect him to play with a zimmer frame against Nottingham Forest today.

The Manchester United midfielder has been basically written off as old and finished by more than one critic – including Sky Sports' Jamie Carragher – since his side’s defeat by Tottenham last Saturday. There is no doubt that the Brazilian has had a sloppy start to the season with two under-whelming performances against Spurs and Wolves.

But when did 31 suddenly become old for a footballer? Aren’t we now at a stage with sports science that players can maintain their level for years into their 30s? And when did it become the norm to cast judgement after just two performances?

Casemiro is a five-time Champions League winner who played at the heart of one of Real Madrid’s all-time great midfields with Luka Modric and Toni Kroos either side of him. Of course as he gets older, his abilities will wane but the obituaries this week for him all feel a tad premature.

READ MORE: Man Utd told to 'f***ing wake up' by club legend after worrying start to the season

Even if his level drops from the brilliance of his pomp he will still be an elite defensive midfielder.

This is a player who just a few months ago was being rightly heralded for helping United return to the Champions League and win a trophy. Now he’s a problem for United?

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That seems a bit daft. Of course, if we are still talking about him playing poorly in 10-15 games time then there should be concern for Erik ten Hag.

But this is a player who showed last season what a leader he is on the pitch with his performances and attitude. He’s on a huge wage and cost £60m – rising to £70m – to bring to Old Trafford but he’s gone some way to paying some of that back by steering United to the top four last season.

The Brazilian has been the midfielder this United side has been crying out for but now he’s playing with a new partner in the middle of the park in Mason Mount.

That’s going to take time to gel and you would wonder if Ten Hag was planning to play Kobbie Mainoo alongside him this season given how much the 18-year-old played in pre-season until he got injured.

Casemiro has to show his class but he shouldn’t be needing his pipe and slippers any time soon.

Richard Arnold's PR diaster

Richard Arnold gave a crash course in woeful PR over the last week. Now the Manchester United CEO is rightly at risk of losing his job after the disaster class that has been the Mason Greenwood case.

To give him some credit, it wasn’t an easy task to handle given the CPS had dropped its case against the soon-to-be-departing United striker. But the club’s ‘holding’ statement in the wake of the Athletic’s reporting was a mess.

The question has to be asked as to why their ‘internal investigation’ took so long? Yes it was a delicate and very serious matter which had to be handled with care. But charges were dropped against Greenwood in February.

It should have been swift and decisive yet it was dithering and took months. Erik Ten Hag should also be asking questions from a sporting perspective as he now has a player less when he was left in limbo on the matter.

Pep Guardiola on spending

Pep Guardiola claimed Manchester City would be ‘killed’ if they splashed the cash like Chelsea have in the last 12 months. Poor Pep has hardly been going with the begging bowl looking for players though has he?

City have signed defender Josko Gvardiol for £77m, they are set to spend £55m on winger Jeremy Doku and now Wolves have rejected a £47m bid for midfielder Matheus Nunes.

This is after a move in the region of £70m for West Ham’s Lucas Paqueta was abandoned because of his bother with the betting rules. City’s defence will be the players they have shipped out some talent for huge fees, too.

But it’s still a bit rich of a manager who has been bankrolled by seemingly unlimited wealth from Abu Dhabi to have a problem with another club’s spending. He was also critical of Saudi Arabia’s spending.

Those in glass houses shouldn’t really throw stones.

ONSIDE: Fan power yet again showing clubs up. The Manchester United supporters who stood against a Mason Greenwood return deserve praise.

OFFSIDE: The PGMOL rightly rescinded Alexis Mac Allister’s red card last week – if only there was a system in place to do this during the game, eh?

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