'He was jogging' - Onuoha criticises Casemiro for his performance during Man Utd's loss to Arsenal

Nigerian-born former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha has torn into Manchester United star Casemiro after his performance against Arsenal in a Premier League game at Old Trafford on Sunday evening.

Mikel Arteta's side picked up a vital win which means that the Premier League title race will go down right to the wire. 

Red Devils boss Erik ten Hag deployed Casemiro as an emergency centre-back due to an injury crisis in that position, with the likes of Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelöf, Lisandro Martinez and Raphaël Varane not available for selection.

Several fans and pundits feel that Casemiro was culpable for the goal scored by Arsenal as the Brazilian failed to push up, thus leaving Kai Havertz onside. 

The defensive midfielder won the Champions League on five occasions during his time with Real Madrid and is an experienced international with 75 caps for South American giants Brazil.

Against Arsenal, Casemiro looked like his legs were gone and got a lot of stick for jogging instead of sprinting when an opponent got past him.

Onuoha has underlined that Casemiro should not have been playing at centre-back as his strengths are being wasted there. 

"We have seen him be a really good defensive midfielder across many years," Onuoha said on BBC Radio 5 Live.

"But he couldn't sense the danger there [on the pitch] straight away, from the moment the ball was kicked, other players around him had the sense of urgency, to be able to squeeze the game and close off the field a bit but he doesn’t manage to do that.

"That's not autopilot, I don't think it is engaged at all, in that first 10 to 15 seconds, when other players were sprinting to the ball he was jogging, it's bizarre because he is one of the most decorated midfielders we have seen play in Europe over the last 10 years.

"When he plays at centre back it feels like a waste for him as I can't see his strengths in there."

Casemiro was a member of the Brazil side to the 2009 Fifa U17 World Cup in Nigeria, where he played in two matches.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit: premierleague.com

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