Paul Ince has compared Casemiro to Roy Keane and Bryan Robson, describing the Brazilian as a “fantastic player” after the Manchester United star scored two goals in Saturday's 3-1 FA Cup win over Reading.
The summer signing’s deft lob put the hosts ahead nine minutes after the break before his long-range effort doubled the advantage four minutes later. The midfielder starred for United again and has been among the club’s best players this season.
Ince - who was given a warm reception upon his return to Old Trafford - gave high praise to Casemiro, who now has four goals this season following his FA Cup debut. The Royals manager says the linchpin holds the kind of standards former teammates Keane and Robson did during his days at United.
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“Casemiro is a Champions League winner, a fantastic player, a great player,” he said. “It is irrelevant what you do against Reading or Leicester or Southampton, you base it on what you do against Arsenal and Man City and if you win titles.
“That’s what we had with Keaney and Robbo. As much as he scored against us, that is not important. It is important you have someone who can go against the big guns and perform as he did today.”
Fred grabbed United’s third goal of the night on 66 minutes after Andy Carroll was sent off for two bookable challenges. Ince said he felt referee Darren England was the main protagonist in the dismissal.
He added: “I am disappointed with the referee because the first one in the corner was not a yellow card, the linesman hasn’t even flagged. He can’t wait to get the yellow card out.
“It was a poor, poor, poor decision but once you are on a yellow card, you are on a tightrope. He did a poor challenge on Christian Eriksen and that could have been a booking. Then the one on Casemiro, the fans go up. That is the downer on the night.”
Ince described the night as “enjoyable” as Reading savour Amadou Salif Mbengue's consolation header. He also hailed the work Erik ten Hag is doing at his former club. “No disrespect, if we had played United a year ago I would have felt we had a right good chance of beating them,” he said.
“Teams were coming here thinking they could get something as Burnley did and Villa did. Ten Hag, in a short period of time, has lifted the club. The last two or three years have been tough for United fans. Ten Hag has started to bridge that gap.
“They are starting to get a presence about them. That is important, if you go back to the Fergie years there was a presence. They beat Man City and sat back - we wouldn’t have done that but he has set the club to go forward. There is no stuff coming out about fragmentation in the dressing room.”
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