Casemiro also played a ridiculous amount of games and any type of legginess at a position like DM gets exposed instantly in the PL.

Look at Fabinho ffs. Went from elite to literally washed in like 10 months. Still one of the craziest declines I’ve seen

Players decline nobody ever denies that

Casemrio was great 4 months ago so was Varane

The difference is team doing bad so you say this, it's not about age it's more about team performance

I just gave an example of Xhaka, do u think prime Xhaka was worse than 30 year old Xhaka? Or was it fans scapegoating due to club performances

Yup! I remember getting attacked here for questioning the value of Casemiro at his age/price/contract cos who wants to believe that a player they like might decline soon. Was the same with Peresic who everyone assured me would be a wonderful wingback adapting to PL aged 33!!!

It’s a real minority who play deep into their 30s, handing out big contracts to such players should be done with real care and scrutiny unless you are a monopoly money club then whatever gamble away!

Many people often also ignore the human element of this. They think footballers are robots like in their games of FIFA on PS5. There are so many examples of footballers losing their drive to stay at peak performance or who want to move onto other interests.

Speaking of Rashford, he only gives a shit when he wants a new contract lol

Rashford’s a budget player who turns it on for 7 months when a contract is on the line. Xhaka grew as a player when his role was adapted to provide him better cover to make up for his lack of pace and somewhat questionable defensive instincts. Casemiro has just gotten old after being consistent forever.

Younger players who function better in one system or another or others who turn it on at pinch points in their career are not the same as older player going over the hill.

What do you mean about AWB? He went from shit to essential and then has been injured, he's only just back

Rashford and AWB examples are fluctuations in form, an inherent lack of consistency, and/or fit with the manager's tactics and what the squad needs. This is different than an age-related decline in quality when a player hits a point where their experience and knowledge of the game is no longer able to make up for the loss of athleticism.

Outside of significant injuries, it's rare that a good player hits their peak in their early-mid 20s and can never get back to that. A lot will reach their potential and stop developing but they don't go backwards. That's why it's so surprising and attracts attention when it does happen, e.g. Dele.

Is he being binned off? Why are you so certain about trusting the Daily Mail?

You’re acting like the transfer is actually happening right now, not like you’ve read a story in a paper which routinely makes things up.

He's not getting binned off.

Don't think we'd have got top 4 without him. I'd imagine Champions League football is worth about that, even if we've crashed and burned in it.

You’re speaking in retrospect while completely ignoring the fact that the dude just tried to clarify that he meant without retrospective knowledge.

He was one of our most important players, he was brilliant for all of last season.

I don't know what happened this season.

He was arguably our most important player last season.

I don't think Casemiro is the issue. He was arguably the best CDM in the world when he signed. Granted, he was in a world class setup at Madrid where he had basically played his whole career.

But Casemiro as a player has been, overall, one of UTDs shining lights.

It's difficult to play your best when you're demotivated and man utd is a shambles

Id say odegaard but that is with hindsight. He couldnt break into the first 11 at the time

You might not, but Manchester United do