{"id":68060,"date":"2025-05-02T09:43:13","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T09:43:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/68060\/"},"modified":"2025-05-02T09:43:13","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T09:43:13","slug":"rio-ferdinand-singles-out-casemiro-for-praise-after-win-over-athletic-club-he-has-been-so","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/68060\/","title":{"rendered":"Rio Ferdinand singles out Casemiro for praise after win over Athletic Club, ‘he has been so…’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Casemiro was one of Manchester United\u2019s stand-out performers in the 3-0 win over Athletic Club.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Manchester United beat Athletic Club 3-0<\/a> at San Mames to take a comfortable lead into next week\u2019s second leg.<\/p>\n

Casemiro<\/a> opened the scoring on the half-hour mark after some superb wing-play from Harry Maguire<\/a>. The goal came after a nervy opening 20 minutes for the visitors but they were quick to kick on to increase their lead.<\/p>\n

Athletic Club were reduced to 10 men after 35 minutes when Dani Vivian was dismissed for a foul on Rasmus Hojlund<\/a> inside the box. Bruno Fernandes<\/a> converted from the penalty spot to double United\u2019s lead, before completing a brace on the stroke of half-time.<\/p>\n

In the second half, United had total control but were unable to score a fourth goal despite several attempts. Ruben Amorim<\/a> will be happy to take a three-goal advantage into the second leg, with one foot firmly in the final.<\/p>\n

\"PhotoPhoto by James Gill \u2013 Danehouse\/Getty ImagesRio Ferdinand hails Casemiro after win over Athletic Club<\/p>\n

While Casemiro has shown better form over the past month, the Brazilian has blown hot and cold for most of the season.<\/p>\n

It bodes well for United\u2019s head coach<\/a> that the proven winner is hitting top form in time for the business end of the season.<\/p>\n

Casemiro\u2019s goal marked his first in the Europa League and it came in his 112th game in European competition.<\/p>\n

Former United defender Rio Ferdinand<\/a> singled Casemiro out for praise during TNT Sports\u2019 commentary in the second half.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think Casemiro has put a foot wrong,\u201d Ferdinand said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been sensational tonight. He has been so disciplined.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople have been talking about getting rid of him, his legs have gone etcetera.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I tell you what, he\u2019s come to the fore when they have needed him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s coaching this team through this and it\u2019s a massive moment in the season for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ruben Amorim finds perfect role for Casemiro<\/p>\n

Former United academy<\/a> star Robbie Savage was on commentary with Ferdinand for the match, and he noticed a reason why Casemiro\u2019s form has suddenly improved over the past month.<\/p>\n

Savage claimed Casemiro is now playing in a role that suits him in Amorim\u2019s system.<\/p>\n

Amorim initially overlooked Casemiro in his time, but now seems to have found a way to get the best out of the serial winner in his midfield.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he has realised, or Manchester United have realised, what he is good form,\u201d Savage said.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of playing through him, where he\u2019s taking lots of touches, I think he\u2019s facing the right way more times than not now.\u201d<\/p>\n

In agreement with Savage, Ferdinand argued that Casemiro receives more support from his teammates in Amorim\u2019s system.<\/p>\n

\u201cI totally agree with you, Robbie, about facing the game,\u201d Ferdinand said in response.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re not trying to play through him like a pivot where he\u2019s got his back to things and he can pressed and lose the ball. That\u2019s not his game.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis makes it simpler for him but, also, they\u2019re allowing big spaces around him where he would be exposed physically.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got that support behind and communication.\u201d<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Casemiro was one of Manchester United\u2019s stand-out performers in the 3-0 win over Athletic Club. Manchester United beat…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":68061,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[11493,1811,15038,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-68060","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-casemiro","9":"tag-europa-league","10":"tag-rio-ferdinand","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114437593834616457","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}