Man Utd mimicking dominant Real Madrid department, claims Neville while highlighting bad habit trio have broken

Casemiro is becoming part of a Man Utd midfield that can emulate the one he once roamed with Real Madrid, according to Gary Neville.

Manchester United signed Casemiro from Real Madrid in the summer transfer window to strengthen their midfield. The opportunity to prise him away from the La Liga giants emerged late in the window.

Frenkie de Jong was previously Man Utd’s priority for the position all summer. However, they turned their attention to Casemiro when it became clear the Barcelona man would not be joining.

Casemiro has begun to show why he was always more than just a valid alternative target. The 30-year-old has featured in nine Premier League matches for Manchester United so far, starting five of them.

On Sunday, he featured at the base of Erik ten Hag’s midfield, behind Christian Eriksen and Bruno Fernandes. They played their part in a 1-0 win at Old Trafford.

After the game, ex-Manchester United defender Gary Neville suggested the balance of their midfield could be like what Casemiro played in at Real Madrid. There, he shared the territory with Luka Modric and Toni Kroos.

Neville told Sky Sports: “None of them are quick. None of them are box-to-box. None of them are what you’d call true defensive midfield players of a sort of style you’d expect.

“When you think of that midfield three that he played in in Madrid, with Kroos and Modric, and you think of Eriksen and Fernandes now and how they are…

“Now Kroos and Modric I think are far better players than Fernandes and Eriksen. But there’s a similarity to what we’re seeing here in terms of the style.

“I’m not saying they’re as good as those three because those three ruled Europe for many, many years. They played in the biggest games and controlled them.

“But there is something similar to what Casemiro is seeing here with what he saw at Real Madrid with those two players, with that sort of silkiness and that sort of smoothness to them that gives Manchester United a better platform.

“The big games, obviously, in terms of [Manchester] City away, they struggled a little bit to be honest with you when they played Eriksen and Fernandes together – I know that Casemiro didn’t play that day.

“But City come here I think it’s two weeks after the restart, 14th of January, and that’ll be really interesting to see if Erik ten Hag goes with Casemiro, Eriksen and Fernandes. That’ll be the real test that game.”

Casemiro and company giving more confidence to defenders

Later in the conversation, Neville highlighted how all three of Manchester United’s midfielders who started against West Ham are confident at taking the ball under pressure.

In that regard, they are different to some of their predecessors of recent times.

Neville added: “Do you know what defenders want when they’re on the ball? They want midfield players who are willing to take the ball when it’s tight, when there’s people next to them who are brave, and all those three do.

“There are far too many times Manchester United defenders have had the ball in the last five years and you say, play out from the back, drop to the six-yard box, but all of a sudden your midfield players don’t really want it, and when they do get it, they give it back to you in an even worse position.

“These players wriggle, they turn, they look over their shoulders.”

Midfield was a key area Man Utd were looking to upgrade in the summer. Last season, they often deployed a double pivot of Fred and Scott McTominay behind Fernandes.

Now, the summer signings of Casemiro and Eriksen seem to be giving them a different dimension.

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