Rio Ferdinand has demanded that Erik ten Hag play Casemiro after the Manchester United midfielder was benched for the Red Devils' humiliating 6-3 defeat in the Manchester derby.
The 30-year-old Brazilian is yet to start a Premier League match for United after signing from Real Madrid in a deal worth up to £60million in August. Instead, manager Erik ten Hag has stuck with in-form pairing Christian Eriksen and Scott McTominay, but the duo were torn apart by bitter rivals City during Sunday's mauling.
Ferdinand firmly disagrees with Ten Hag's loyalty towards Eriksen and McTominay, with the former Red Devils defender making his feelings clear on his Vibe with FIVE YouTube show.
In a heated debate with co-host Joel Beya, who claimed that Casemiro hasn't yet shown his quality for United in cameo substitute appearances, Ferdinand fumed: "What are you talking about? Shut up, you're talking rubbish. 'What has he done?' Can we get this guy evacuated, please? You're hurting yourself here.
"He's been getting chicken feed. He was the Player of the Match in the Champions League final a couple of months ago and that was the fifth Champions League he's won. In that Real Madrid team, he was the anchor. He's been given scraps. Put the man in from the start and say, 'Bang, you're playing'. You can't judge him off chicken feed."
Agreeing with Ferdinand, fellow ex-England international Jermaine Jenas made the point of how Ten Hag has thrown his other new signings such as Lisandro Martinez and Antony into the starting XI without a period of adjustment - unlike Casemiro.
Ferdinand then noted: "JJ, when you played for England, you were behind two of the greatest players to ever pull on an England shirt [ Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard ], when you were getting the chicken feed minutes, how did that make you feel?" Jenas simply replied: "Not great."
Having later been probed on the fact Casemiro has struggled to make an impact during his limited minutes, the ex-Old Trafford stalwart went on to say: "Put him in the team from the beginning and say, 'Listen, go and play some games'.
"He's been used to getting the ball and having five options. One of them being [Luka] Modric, one of them being [Karim] Benzema, one of them being Toni Kroos. My man's looking up now and seeing shirt numbers. He ain't getting the same options, so he needs time."
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Another co-host, Stephen Howson, suggested that Casemiro's performances in training may have convinced Ten Hag to stick with Eriksen and McTominay. Ferdinand was having none of it, though.
"You did not buy Casemiro based on his training performances, please, I'm telling you that," he declared in frustration. "You bought him based off what he's done in the biggest moments in football and he's been, consistently, one of the best defensive midfielders on the planet.
"You mean to tell me you're gonna buy someone who is regarded as one of the best, if not the best, holding midfielders - after that Champions League final people were certainly talking about that - and you're gonna say you'll buy him but because he hasn't trained well, I'm not gonna play him. It's blasphemy what I'm hearing here, it's stupidness."
