Rio Ferdinand has again hit out at the people who doubted Casemiro after the Brazilian enforcer produced a standout performance in Manchester United's dramatic 1-1 draw with Chelsea.
United turned to Casemiro after failing to strike a deal for Frenkie de Jong, but the former Real Madrid midfielder has been eased into the first-team picture at Old Trafford and was only handed his first Premier League start of the season a fortnight ago.
The 30-year-old had been written off by some people, but Casemiro has earned plenty of plaudits since coming in for the victory over Everton - and he even managed to pop up with a last-gasp equalising goal to cancel out Jorginho's second-half penalty at Stamford Bridge to ensure United banked a well-earned point against the Blues.
Ferdinand has been particularly vocal with his support of Casemiro in recent weeks, and he even called on Ten Hag to start playing him before the Dutchman eventually bought the midfielder into the team.
Unsurprisingly, the former United defender was active on social after the game, tweeting: "Where’s all the headlines saying Casemiro ain’t good enough for the Prem." He added another post shortly after his initial tweet, saying: "And all you haters… it’s not just cos he scored a goal. Todays game, 10 x possession won (most) 9 duels won (most)."
Casemiro had impressed long before his dramatic injury-time header, but his intervention was crucial for Manchester United, who dominated the first-half but fell behind in the 87th minute of the match after Armando Broja was hauled down inside the box by Scott McTominay.
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McTominay, who was introduced as a second-half substitute, had been keeping Casemiro out of the United team with some impressive performances - much to the bemusement of Ferdinand.
Speaking about Casemiro's lack of action earlier this month, Ferdinand told his FIVE YouTube channel: “The geeze hasn’t been given a chance, he hasn’t been given a fair crack of the whip. He’s come in and played in a Europa League game against some dead team.
“He ain’t been given a start in the team when he’s fit and ready. He’s regressed in terms of fitness, so he’s now worse off than when he came. He still had to get up to speed when he came from that league to this league.
“I wonder the impact it’s having on someone like him. Yes he’s experience and whatnot. But he must be sitting there thinking, ‘wow, I’m happy to be here at Man United but I’m feeling a little bit disrespected here, given what I’ve done’. I’d be surprised if he’s not feeling like that."
