Former Tottenham Hotspur and Netherlands midfielder Rafael Van der Vaart believes Erik ten Hag's decision not to include Casemiro in his starting line-up for Manchester United's 6-3 derby day defeat to Manchester City on Sunday was "very stupid."
Casemiro signed for an initial £60million fee from Spanish giants Real Madrid in August, but is still waiting for his first Premier League start and was named on the bench for the fourth game running at the Etihad Stadium. Ten Hag opted to continue with Scott McTominay in the defensive midfield position, such is the form that the Scot has been in recently.
Despite McTominay's encouraging performances in recent weeks, there was a feeling that Casemiro would be awarded his first league start for United for the short trip across town, given City's quality in midfield and attack. However, Ten Hag chose to stick with McTominay, deploying him in midfield alongside Christian Eriksen and Bruno Fernandes.
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United, particularly in the first half, were overrun by City, and constantly caught short in midfield. It only made the argument for Casemiro to have started grow stronger.
And for former Netherlands international Van der Vaart, Ten Hag's decision to leave out Casemiro was a mistake, insisting it resulted in him causing United a problem that could have been avoided.
"Ten Hag should have started playing Casemiro straight away," said Van der Vaart. "McTominay starts performing and Man United start winning and then of course he can't put McTominay out of the team anymore.
"I find this very stupid from him because you are creating your own problem."
Casemiro has started just once since arriving at United — the 1-0 defeat to Real Sociedad in the Europa League last month. He could be in line for a return to the starting line-up when United face Omonia Nicosia in Cyprus on Thursday night, also in the Europa League.
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