Erik ten Hag wants to give Casemiro "time" before handing him his Manchester United debut, as he benched the £60million signing alongside Cristiano Ronaldo against Southampton.
Casemiro's eye-watering transfer deal was completed earlier this week, while Ronaldo's future at the club hangs in the balance. As the Red Devils head to St Mary's looking to make it back-to-back Premier League wins, Ten Hag opted for an unchanged starting XI from Monday's epic 2-1 victory over Liverpool.
Club captain Harry Maguire also remains on the bench, having been warned by Ten Hag over his uncertain future with the armband, despite Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl hinting that his team have a plan to exploit his centre-back replacement, Lisandro Martinez. Anthony Martial has picked up another injury, while Victor Lindelof still isn't fit to feature.
Quizzed on his team selection by BT Sport pre-match, Ten Hag said: "I think we have a squad that's quite competitive, so that's always a difficult decision.But, as you say, we had a really good performance on Monday and then you stick to it, but it's also to give Casemiro the time.
"He has not played one game, 90 minutes, so he has to adapt to England, has to adapt to Man United and to give him the time to integrate in the team."
United legend Rio Ferdinand then asked the Dutch tactician about dropping big names such as Ronaldo and Maguire. "As a person, it's always considerations but as a manager you have to take clear decisions." Ten Hag replied.
"The team is most important. You make the decision which is right for the team, no matter who it is, but in your communication you have to be clear and have to be honest."
Fellow Old Trafford icon Paul Scholes admitted his surprise at Ten Hag's decision to bench Casemiro, adding: " I am a little bit after the game on Monday where they did so well you half expected he could play the same team.
"But the experience of Casemiro would've been nice for this team especially away from home, this team have lost the last seven away games and bring that togetherness, solidness, character in the middle of the pitch - I thought he might've played today."
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On Maguire's absence, Scholes added: "It'll be tough for him because no player likes to be left out but I think it's the right thing, I think it'll do him good in the long run. I think if United can get a six, seven, eight game win streak going and come back into a confident team.
"He's going to get a lot of games, Varane with his injury problems, League Cup, Europa League they're not the matches he wants to be playing but if this side can get a real run of form going, some confidence, it might be easier to integrate him back in."
