Manchester United midfielder Casemiro theorized that Jamie Carragher’s criticism of his performances was borne out of “bitterness” for his past victories over Liverpool while at Real Madrid.
Carragher spent his entire senior career at Liverpool and makes his fierce fondness for the club abundantly apparent during his post-retirement duties as a pundit for Sky Sports and CBS. The former center back is never shy to offer scathing criticism of the modern game’s stars, notably launching a stinging attack against Casemiro two years ago.
After watching United’s defensive totem get torn apart in a 4–0 humbling at the hands of Crystal Palace in May 2024, a game in which the midfielder was forced to operate as an emergency center back, Carragher claimed Casemiro’s days at the elite level were over.
“This has to stop because we are watching one of the greats of modern times,” the pundit lamented on Sky Sports. “I always remember the saying, ‘Leave the football before the football leaves you.’ The football has left him. At this top level, he needs to call it a day at this level and move.”
Casemiro did not move on. In fact, he initially failed to convince Ruben Amorim of his qualities, spending the first festive fixture list of the Portuguese manager’s tenure fixed on the substitutes’ bench. However, the 34-year-old eventually began to win his way back into Amorim’s affections and was even trusted to start last summer’s Europa League final.
This season has been even better for Casemiro. The rampant aerial threat managed to impress despite the team’s collective struggles in the first half of the campaign and Michael Carrick’s arrival has only increased his scandalous levels of performance.
Speaking to TNT Sports Brazil with the confidence of a player at the top of his game, Casemiro shrugged off the past barbs. “Everyone says whatever they want on television,” he smiled.
“I’m not someone who gets involved in that. But it’s a bit normal, because I won two Champions League titles over his team. Maybe after you win two titles against his club, there’s still some bitterness there.”
It’s a fascinating conclusion from Casemiro. Rather than accept that he was struggling at that point of his career—he would not have been alone in a wildly unbalanced United squad marshaled by a soon-to-be-dismissed Erik ten Hag—or simply put Carragher’s criticism down to misguided punditry, his mind flicked back to the 2018 and 2022 Champions League finals.
Casemiro started both showpiece fixtures as Real Madrid defeated Liverpool on each occasion.
Carragher’s Casemiro Climb-Down
United’s 3–2 win over Fulham in February epitomized Casemiro’s staggering individual campaign. The supposedly defensive midfielder headed in the opening goal before sliding an outrageous no-look pass through for Matheus Cunha to double the hosts’ advantage. Casemiro was taken off in the 75th minute to a standing ovation having limited Fulham to precious few snatched sights of goal.
Yet, in his absence, United conceded twice and only rescued three points thanks to Benjamin Šeško’s stoppage-time equalizer.
It was at this point that Carragher accepted his misstep. In a contrite climbdown, he admitted: “It is now fair to say the football has not left him [Casemiro].
“... He looks like a different player physically as well. Even when I said that, you looked at him and he looked like an old man coming to the end of his time as a player. And whether he let himself go a little bit, or now he’s being ultra professional, physically, he looks completely different.”
Carragher even pre-emptively welcomed the jibe which has belatedly come his way. “Casemiro is well within his rights to, if he wants to come back at me and say, ‘Leave the punditry before the punditry’s left you!’ He could definitely get one of those back in,” the Liverpool legend laughed. “Credit to him, he looks a completely different player.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Man Utd’s Casemiro Claims ‘Bitter’ Reason Behind Jibe From Liverpool Legend.
