Casemiro

Questions about Brazilian's signing appear ridiculous after his Manchester United displays show he is a complete midfielder.

That was at Everton on 9 October in the 2-1 win and Casemiro has since been on the losing team only once. As a leader, he knows when he has to be a little bit tough and when he has to be more composed.” When he was at São Paulo, the club misspelled his name on the back of his match shirt – it should be Casimiro – but he played well and told them not to change it. Casemiro wanted to take on a new challenge, feeling that his cycle at the Bernabéu was over, and it says plenty that he went for a total change in a new country with a different language and football culture. Casemiro was a 15-year-old hopeful when he played for São Paulo in the Nike Cup, hosted by United. “Casemiro is such an important player, he’s been in big places and how you see him on the pitch is the way he is off it – just a really calm guy,” Fernandes says. At United, Casemiro has continued to see the devil in the detail, his match preparation heavy on studying the opposing players, their strengths and weaknesses, their statistics. “Ten Hag says he wants to be in possession and control the game, and he wants to put pressure on the ball. Opta has a statistic called shot-ending sequences started; in other words, ball recoveries that lead to chances, and Casemiro is second in the league on this. Antony calls him “our guard dog in the middle” and Bruno Fernandes noted after the Barcelona win, that “obviously when he has to tackle, he goes strong”. The pleasant surprise has been what he has done in possession. The Brazilian’s impact – on and off the field – has been nothing short of sensational.