Brazil legend Rivaldo believes Casemiro made a mistake by swapping Real Madrid for Manchester United, feeling his compatriot is being blamed for the Red Devils’ injury nightmares this season.
Casemiro had an impressive first season in England last time around, but has gone sharply downhill over the current campaign.
His own injuries have not helped, neither have fitness problems for others as the 32-year-old has been asked to fill in at centre-back, where he is clearly not as comfortable as his usual central midfield.
Rivaldo reckons Casemiro should have stayed at Real Madrid instead of making the switch to Old Trafford in 2022, where things may not have been so difficult for him.
Speaking to the brand new Betting.Betfair.com website about the latest football news, Betfair Ambassador Rivaldo said: ‘Casimiro is a great person, a friend of mine and someone I played with when I was at Sao Paulo.
‘He had an amazing career at Real Madrid. In my opinion, it was the wrong decision for him to leave Real Madrid for Manchester United.
‘I think he was living a beautiful story at Real Madrid, but of course, the financial side of things helped his decision.
‘Manchester United are in a terrible moment, with so many injuries. and Casemiro is a midfield player, not a striker or defender, so people criticise him playing out of position, but in my opinion, he is not to blame at all, because Manchester United are struggling massively on their own.’
So poor has Casemiro’s form been this season that Brazil head coach Dorival Júnior has left him out of the Copa America squad this summer.
Explaining his decision, Dorival said: ‘He deserves all the respect from all of us. I had a conversation with him in Manchester about three months ago.
‘I explained what I thought about his situation, his team’s situation, and what I needed. It doesn’t mean, because it’s not coming right now, that it is or will be ruled out, in any sense.’
‘He knows very well what I think about him, and that’s the main thing. Tomorrow (Saturday), calmly, I will make contact with Casemiro, naturally stating what I believe could happen in the future, especially because he is a player who deserves consideration, affection, respect and that we continue to believe in an athlete of this level.’
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