Graeme Souness doubles down on Casemiro after early Manchester United substitution

Graeme Souness couldn't resist criticizing Casemiro after his early substitution against Luton Town.

The Liverpool legend has never been the manchester united of the midfielder the biggest admirerand he had the opportunity to explain why after the 2-1 victory.

United beat Luton with two goals Rasmus Hojlund in seven minutes, but after Carlton Morris stopped them, it was a matter of hanging on.

That got complicated when casemiro He avoided an early warning, but then received a yellow card in the 34th minute.

Playing the rest of the half to the limit, Erik ten Hag He was taken out of the action at half-time for Scott McTominay, and Souness was not surprised.

“This is not new, this is how he played at Real Madrid,” said the talkSPORT presenter.

“He was famous for committing professional fouls, stopping escapes, committing fouls and taking cards for the cause in a dangerous situation, that was his career at Real Madrid.

“He is a stable player. He doesn't do it, he commits fouls, he sees danger and sometimes he is a little clumsy, he is already 31 years old, but you wouldn't say that he does it.

“The biggest problem he had yesterday, which is part of the professional game and not something new, the biggest danger of him getting a second yellow card was the Luton players attacking the referee, but that's not something new either.”

The comments may sound familiar to some United fans, with Souness calling Casemiro a “constant Eddie” following his £70million arrival in 2022, and commenting that he was “never a great player”.

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those comments seemed to have aged poorly when Casemiro helped the Red Devils into the top four and saw them win their first trophy in six years with the League Cup.

However, as the season drew to a close, the Souness argument resurfaced as Casemiro's impact began to wane, and the same was true this season with an injury halting his progress.

At just 31 years old, the Brazilian signed a four-year contract at Old Trafford, and former West Ham and Newcastle manager Alan Pardew explained that defensive midfield is not the best position to start showing age.

The talkSPORT presenter added: “When you are a central midfielder and the one who breaks up attacks and makes tackles, you actually age faster than a stylish player.

“If the right moment doesn't come and you can't do it, you are committing more fouls, in my opinion Casemiro is in that world. I think it was a good decision personally (to take him out), I would have done the same.

“He could have been sent off, it was very close, the bottom line is that he had to be taken off at half-time because they were in danger of being left with ten men, you are talking about a player with a lot of experience who should not have been sent off.” Not being in that position.”