Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has admitted that he believes Casemiro deserved a red card for his actions during Manchester United vs Crystal Palace, with the Brazilian now missing both matches against Leeds United this week.
Leeds face Man United on Wednesday night in the first of a Premier League doubleheader against Erik ten Hag's side. A trip to Old Trafford comes first, where backroom staff trio Michael Skubala, Paco Gallardo and Chris Armas will be in the dugout in place of the recently departed Jesse Marsch.
The Red Devils will be without key midfielder Casemiro for Wednesday night's game and the return leg at Elland Road on Sunday after he was sent off during Man United's 2-1 win against Crystal Palace on the weekend. The 30-year-old was shown a straight red card for putting his hands around the throat of Eagles midfielder Will Hughes.
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Ten Hag confirmed that they have not appealed the red card and subsequent three-match ban, a decision that former top-flight referee Gallagher agreed with.
"It's the worst nightmare for a referee," Gallagher told Sky Sports. "There is so much going on isn't there? It's impossible to police [it] yourself. I think what you have to do is keep an eye on what you can see and tell your assistants to take notice.
"If you watch Scott Ledger [the assistant referee], he's trying to control players, he then goes round the back to get a better view of something else.
"Casemiro is actually behind his back [at that point] that's the problem there is just so much going on. I think the VAR picked up Casemiro and people are asking why [Jordan] Ayew wasn't picked up [for his actions against Fred in the melee]. I think there is only so much they can pick up at the time.
"I think Casemiro is a red card. The reason I say that is because you can't condone a player putting both hands around somebody's throat.
"I think the VAR has looked at it and recommended that it is a red card. There are other things going on - is somebody a peacemaker or an aggressor? I think the FA will look at that today and it is up to them to see if they have to process anything else.
"People say it looks different from one angle to another. Sue [Smith] and I were talking before the programme about the [Joao] Cancelo incident last year and I felt the problem was that they focused on one angle which wasn't conclusive rather than an angle that was conclusive.
"I think it's the same here. I don't need to focus on an angle that is not conclusive because I have got an angle that I think is conclusive.
"When I see a player with two hands around a player's throat, I can't condone that and say that is not a red card offence because if I do then what I am doing is giving a player a licence week after week after week to think that this is acceptable. I don't think this is acceptable.
"I think the angle that Andre [Marriner] was shown is conclusive. I think that is a red card. I think that this one will roll on this morning - it was impossible for the two of them there to police that."
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