- 15 hours ago
Stunning Casemiro FA Cup final claim hints at one last Ten Hag fallout
Robin Bairner
- 25 May 2024 15:23 BST
- 3 min read
Manchester United sprung a surprise for the FA Cup final when it was revealed that Casemiro had failed to make the starting XI for the match – but the story has only grown more complicated since then.
Casemiro was initially named on the official team sheet among the Man Utd substitutes, but it quickly emerged that he would not take his place among the replacements for the match. Instead, young French centre-back Willy Kambwala would feature.
Ten Hag reported that the former Real Madrid star was not 100% fit after suffering a muscle issue and would, therefore, not be part of the matchday squad.
READ MORE: Ronaldo was right! Cristiano justified with Ten Hag criticism
STATS
Casemiro
DM (CRL)
Man Utd
Casemiro
DM (CRL)
Man Utd
This runs contrary to reports from ESPN Brasil’s Premier League correspondent Joao Castelo-Branco, who reports that Casemiro is not injured.
TNT Sport Brasil’s Vitor Sergio Rodrigues has relayed the information via X.
READ MORE: Ten Hag admits Man Utd’s season was ‘RUBBISH’ but blames ‘REALLY BIZARRE’ problem
What do we know about the situation?
It was reported by The Athletic on Friday that Casemiro could be dropped from the starting XI, but there was no indication at that point that the player’s absence was due to an injury.
Rather, it was logical that Casemiro would not play the game after a run of poor form that has seen the 31-year-old criticised in the media.
Although there is no confirmation of what has happened, the situation points to another spat between Ten Hag and one of his players. It is unlikely that Casemiro would take kindly to being dropped for one of the biggest games of the season given his status at the club.
And Ten Hag, who is set to be sacked following the Man City clash, is known to have taken a hardline approach with such characters before, often angering his star players.
Cristiano Ronaldo, for example, walked out of a pre-season match with Rayo Vallecano before full-time in 2022 in what was a prelude to his exit.
The evidence suggests that Casemiro’s complete absence from this game may have been due to a clash with Ten Hag, though for the moment, this is purely circumstantial.
