Former Manchester United defender, Rio Ferdinand, has branded Erik ten Hag’s decision to continue to play Casemiro as centre-back as “unfair”.

The Brazilian had one of the worst games of his career last Monday against Crystal Palace and was once again at the centre of action for the wrong reasons yesterday.

An injury-ravaged United defence has meant that Casemiro has needed to fill in as a centre back and this experiment has failed miserably.

Arsenal’s winning goal came directly from the Brazilian lazily jogging back into his position, and when the ball broke kindly for Arsenal to launch a counter-attack, he was caught far behind his teammates, therefore playing Kai Havertz onside and in oceans of space to pick out Leandro Trossard to score.

Pundits such as Paul Scholes and Roy Keane have already called out Casemiro’s form and the latter has already stated that the veteran is not good enough to play centre-back at Premier League level.

Speaking on his Vibe with FIVE YouTube channel, Ferdinand has echoed his former teammates’ concerns about Casemiro playing at centre-back but blames the manager for putting him in an unfair situation.

“When is he going to take Casemiro out of the backline? Why can’t Amrabat play there or Scott McTominay? Was Scott [McTominay] injured?”

“I just don’t think it’s fair. If you see a few mistakes from somebody who is playing there, who has never played there before, and you see those mistakes early, you should go: ‘Do you know what? I’m not going to do this to you.”

Ten Hag has previously defended Casemiro and actually complimented the job the Brazilian did yesterday, claiming he is a winner and did a very good job on Sunday.

However, Ferdinand sees it differently and claimed, “I don’t care how experienced he is, I’m not going to do this to him. ‘Come on. We’ll move you out of there and get you back to the position you know.”

The Champions League winner then offered his own solution to the United defensive crisis as they wait for any of Lisandro Martinez, Raphael Varane, Harry Maguire or Victor Lindelof to return to full fitness.

When asked if Aaron Wan-Bissaka could do a job at centre back he replied, “Yeah, play him there. Then play one of the other guys right-back. Put Amrabat there. You’ve played him left-back, play Amrabat right-back.”

“That’s the most natural thing for me. Aaron Wan-Bissaka centre-back and Amrabat at right-back, because he was happy to play him left-back for a few games. I don’t know. We just look like we’re on repeat here. We look like we are an uncoached team.”

The theory is that Wan-Bissaka is a more natural defender and this would allow Casemiro to shift up and defend areas of the pitch he is more used to.

The problem with this is, Casemiro has also struggled when playing as a number six and he has been unable to keep up with the unforgiving pace of the Premier League.

Moreover, Wan-Bissaka is a great tackler but he regularly struggles to stay in the right position defensively and is famously average in the air. Not a good combination for a centre-back.

The solution of Amrabat playing right-back is also perplexing considering he showed nothing of merit as a left-back and his passing or crossing ability hardly stands out as a strength.

What is clear is that Casemiro cannot play at centre back and it is mind-boggling how Ten Hag thinks the opposite.

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Manchester United Women delivered a dominant performance as they beat Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 at Wembley to secure the team’s first ever major trophy.

Goals from Ella Toone, Rachel Williams and a brace from Lucia Garcia proved to be the difference for the Red Devils in the greatest day in the team’s history since being reformed in 2018.

United coach Marc Skinner was under no illusions about how important getting that first piece of silverware on Sunday afternoon was.

Speaking to the BBC he claimed, “we are obviously not where we want in the league right? But we are history makers for Manchester United. I didn’t need to remind the owners of that, they know. There is a lot of support and love for our team and the growth.”

“We want to compete for titles but you all know how important adding that first piece of silverware is. We’ve got nothing but growth ahead.”

The former Birmingham City boss also discussed the sense of relief he felt when Ella Toone rifled in the opener, rather than elation.

“In all honesty I felt that first half was just frustration because we didn’t score, I thought we offered more of a threat, we controlled most of their threat. As much as I am exhausted now it is a magical feeling. Tooney scored one of those goals at Leicester but it is another thing to do it at Wembley.”

The 41-year-old coach also passed on some advice to his star attacker after the game when he stated, “I told her [Toone] on the podium you have to feel it, remember it because it comes and goes too quick, and that is what she did. Congratulations to her and the team, we are FA Cup winners.”

The manager was then asked about the thorny issue of the crucially important Mary Earps’ contract situation. “That is a decision to be made later, it is not a conversation for now. I’m sure it does help but me and Mary have a great relationship. Of course I would love her to stay. She is an FA Cup winner,” he responded.

Skinner finished by claiming that the team needs a mixture of youth and experience to begin to compete for league titles and that there needed to be a little bit of “reinvention” of the side moving forward.

“I know we can challenge but we need to invest. I am sure we will, INEOS has been a breath of fresh air since they’ve come in, a real invigorating moment. I hope that can help us push forward next season.”

Opening goal scorer Ella Toone also gave her thoughts on what unfolded on a magical afternoon in the London sun: “It feels amazing. We came here last year and saw what it takes to win an FA Cup. We fell short then and we knew this time that we were hungrier than ever to get a result. We put on a great performance today and I am buzzing we managed to get the win.”

Toone then opened up on the importance of scoring just before half time, revealing she had “been practising every day in training, those types of shots from outside the box, the girls will tell you. As soon as I hit it, it felt like one of them that I knew instantly was going in.”

“For us it was a great time to score, just ahead of half time, it is always nice to get a goal then and come out for the second half a goal up.”

Toone has a wonderful record at Wembley as she also famously scored for England in the Euro finals versus Germany in 2022. Speaking on her experiences at the famous old stadium she said, “I don’t know! I wish I could play here every week! It is a great stadium, the home of football and it is a place every young player dreams of playing at.”

United’s women team have one more challenge ahead of them when they welcome second placed Chelsea to Old Trafford in the season finale.

The FA Cup success is a huge success for the club and they will be looking at using the first major trophy as a springboard to challenge for the title and bring Champions League football to Old Trafford for the first time in their history.

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Manchester United fell to a 0-1 defeat at Old Trafford to Arsenal in their 14th league defeat of the season. The result sees United stuck in eighth position, three points behind seventh with two matches left to contest.

Speaking in his post-match press conference, Erik ten Hag praised his side’s reaction to Monday night’s mauling at Crystal Palace.

The recurring theme of the question and answer session was the massive injuries his team are suffering and Ten Hag opened up on the damage this has caused his side.

After an horrendous showing on Monday night, Casemiro was at fault for Arsenal’s goal as he lazily failed to get up to the rest of the team’s offside trap, gifting Kai Havertz oceans of space to pick out a cross for Leandro Trossard to bundle in from close range.

Responding to a question on why he played Casemiro again at centre back, Ten Hag said, “I didn’t have options. [Kambwala] was not fit, he was just returning from injury and not fit to start.”

When asked if Scott McTominay could be an option as he has been for Scotland in the past he claimed, “I haven’t seen it but what I heard was not always a success. I think he’s better in that advanced position, higher up the pitch.”

Ten Hag was then asked if being so positive after losing to Arsenal highlighted the state the club was in, to which he retorted, “it shouldn’t be like this. You’re absolutely right. But I return to all the problems we have. When you analyse the performance, you have to see that we were competitive, but not in the way we want of course.”

“We have to win every game but as a club we are not in a position and definitely not with this team with all the injuries we have.”

Elaborating further on the damage injuries have had to his teams progress he stated, “I am now two years here and only one time have I had a full group of players. You can’t progress a team when you have so many injuries, especially in a particular key area.”

“It’s like swimming with your hands on your back. You have to keep your head above the water level and that is what we are trying to do.”

The Red Devils currently occupy eighth place in the table which would mean the Europa Conference League would even beyond them. When asked about the how harmful no European football next season could be he claimed it would be very damaging to the club but stressed that the team still has the opportunity to secure it in spite of the massive problems they face.

Ten Hag did mention two positive issues from the game, the first being the performance of Amad Diallo. When asked about giving the player his first start of the season he said, “I think Amad deserved it.”

The coach claimed that there was much competition in that area of the pitch with Alejandro Garnacho, Antony and Marcus Rashford all having minutes on the right, but he was impressed with what he saw from the Ivorian. “He played very well. He was brave, he was creative, he defended very well. We were pleased with his performance,” Ten Hag stated.

Finally, like Monday night, the Dutchman praised the support that the fans showed the team in challenging circumstances: “They understand the situation we are in. Today from the first to the final whistle they were behind us and they see what the problems are and that the team needs backing. So we are united and this is very good.”

If United are to have any chance of salvaging European football, at least from a league position, they need to defeat Newcastle United at Old Trafford on Wednesday night. There is still the prospect of securing Europa League qualification with an FA Cup win against Manchester City but the trajectories of the two teams suggest this will be an incredibly challenging objective.

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Manchester United loanee Alvaro Carreras grabbed an assist in another fine display for Benfica in a dominating 5-0 win versus Arouca.

The Eagles dominated the game from start to finish, taking a three goal lead into half-time.

Despite the scoreline, the home side only shaded the possession figures with 51% of the ball. Nonetheless, they did dominate the match with 19 shots to the visitor’s five.

Carreras struggled for game time originally in Portugal but he has really come into his own the last month and he has been a much more regular member of the team.

He recently scored his first goal in senior football and has made numerous starts in the last few fixtures.

This has led to reports that Benfica will take up the option of signing the United youngster on a permanent basis in the summer after being convinced of his talents.

This evening was another fine example of his progress as the marauding fullback gave the opposition trouble all game.

Sofascore gave him an impressive 7.5 for his contribution to the match.

The 21 year old was solid in defence as his side kept another clean sheet. He made three clearances and one interception in the match.

He was able to make one tackle and won 100% of his aerial duels in the encounter.

However, any United fan who watched Carreras’ progress in the academy knows his true potential lies in his attacking game.

The Spanish under-21 international did not disappoint as he broke down the left and passed the ball through to Rafa Silva, who chipped in from inside the penalty box. It was his first assist in a Benfica shirt and likely the first of many in senior football.

He also contributed three key passes and had an impressive 92 touches of the ball.

He completed a massive 48 out of 62 passes for a pass accuracy of 77%. He was also able to torment the Arouca right back and successfully completed three of his four crosses.

Benfica have already consolidated second place in the league with only one match remaining of the league season. This will take place away to Rio Ave, where Carreras will be hoping to get another chance from the first minute to consolidate a fine finish to the season for the young talent.

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