When Manchester United admitted defeat in their pursuit of Frenkie de Jong last summer, few would have anticipated that their fallback option would make such an astonishing impact.
But for all of the concerns that were raised about the size of the transfer fee and Casemiro having already turned 30, the Brazilian has been United's best signing in the past decade. Almost single-handedly, he has transformed United's midfield and played a crucial role in the club's resurrection under Erik ten Hag this season.
However, we have reached a juncture where we're now seeing less and less of him - and it's not because of niggly injury problems that you would usually associate with a player north of 30. Instead, it is because the Brazilian is finding himself in trouble with the officials.
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Exactly a week after returning from a three-match Premier League ban for a straight red card, the former Madrid man was sent off again on Sunday, receiving his marching orders in the first half of the goalless draw with Southampton. He was dismissed for a challenge on Saints midfielder Carlos Alcaraz, though it required a VAR intervention and on-field referee Anthony Taylor to review the incident on the pitchside monitor before a final decision was made.
As it marked his second red card of the season, the Brazil international now faces a four-game domestic ban, ruling him out of Sunday's FA Cup quarter-final clash with Fulham and the first three league fixtures after the international break. With Christian Eriksen already sidelined through injury, it is another problem Ten Hag could have done without.
By the time Casemiro has served his four-game ban, he will have missed a total of eight matches through suspension this season, and that is presuming he avoids picking up another yellow card, resulting in a one-match European ban, in Thursday night's Europa League clash with Real Betis. To have missed eight games through suspension in one season is not a good look.
United have not performed what you would describe as well in any of the four games he has already missed this season, even though they scooped seven points from nine in the three games he missed as a result of his previous red card. They looked disjointed in midfield and missed his defensive nous and ability to pick a pass.
With the season reaching a crucial juncture and Casemiro now missing until mid-April for domestic fixtures, there have been calls for the former Madrid man to adjust his style. However, despite such calls from former Premier League referee Graham Poll, Casemiro is not what you would describe as an overaggressive, full-blooded player, who has intentions of injuring opponents. If anything, he is a classy operator, who has been just as influential offensively this season as he has defensively.
Arguments for him to change his game to avoid further trouble with the officials are utter nonsense. Casemiro has always been a player tasked with winning possession back for his team, operating as a world-class destroyer, but has done so without malice creeping into his game. He was sent off just twice during his Madrid career and both of those offences were for two yellow cards, meaning he does not have a history of being regularly sent off for violent and full-blooded challenges.
He does his job with the grace of a swan and cannot be expected to completely alter his style because of two red cards in quick succession, neither of which were violent enough for an on-field referee to brandish a red card without any hesitation. Both needed VAR to intervene before he made his way back down the Stretford End tunnel.
The Premier League is much more physical than La Liga, meaning you would have expected Casemiro to turn up the heat in his tackling and desire to win at all costs. Yet data shows that he has committed fewer fouls in the league this season (35) than he did in his final season at Madrid (54).
Casemiro has also proven to be much better in an offensive sense than many gave him credit for at Madrid. He has scored five goals and grabbed five assists this season, meaning he has been as equally important in an attacking sense, highlighting that he has other duties to concentrate on, as opposed to being a destroyer and nothing else.
Casemiro's style of play is vitally important to the way this team ticks. He shouldn't be ordered to change it just because of two red cards.
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