No Manchester United centre-back pairing would have worked against Arsenal, says Wayne Rooney
Wayne Rooney said after Manchester United’s 1-0 defeat against Arsenal that, regardless of who played at centre-back, the Red Devils would have found it hard to contain the Gunners.
While on Sky Sports, Rooney was asked a question regarding whether United could have played anyone other than Casemiro at centre-back.
The discussion arose on the back of the veteran Brazil international, playing as a centre-back due to United’s injury crisis at the back, played Kai Havertz onside, who then provided the ball for Leandro Trossard’s goal.
Rooney said that anyone could have played there in his stead on the day, but United were simply too disjointed as a team to have been able to stop Arsenal.
He’s not wrong
Rooney’s not wrong here. While Casemiro did make a mistake there, in general he had a decent game. United, having lost the game 1-0, might have earned themselves something out of it on another day, but this is simply not their moment.
Casemiro has quickly become one of United’s pantomime villains for the season. Some of the criticism for his performances is justified, but most of it is lost in the noise of hyper-reactive troll commentary. He may not get a chance to prove his worth again in a United shirt, but one hopes he remembers that many a great have come to United only to ostensibly forget how to kick a ball; such is the terror of the Theatre.
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The season cannot end quickly enough for the players, fans, and pundits alike. It’s baffling to remind oneself that United have a cup final to play at the end of the month.
