The Casemiro story in English football has finally come full circle after Jamie Carragher’s public acceptance of the Brazilian’s qualities, but he exposed the club’s biggest problem in the process.
The English football career of Casemiro has been a rollercoaster ride, with the extreme highs of his debut season followed by the lowest of lows under two managers.
When he was at his lowest, Jamie Carragher made a public statement about how Casemiro should leave the game before “football leaves you”.
Casemiro has forced Jamie Carragher into publicly acknowledging his criticism was wrong…
Should Carragher go further and issue a direct apology to Casemiro for his comments?
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Since then, he has staged a resurgence under two managers (Ruben Amorim and Michael Carrick), and is the most important player on the team now.
Jamie Carragher’s public U-turn on Casemiro
Nobody will mistake Carragher as a well-wisher of Man Utd due to his Liverpool past, so the public apology from him wouldn’t have come easy.
He deserves some credit for effectively making the apology as loud as the disrespect was, and on the same platform where it all began.
Carragher’s U-turn on Casemiro is also a nice full-circle moment for the player, as he is set to leave Old Trafford in the summer.
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He has completely repaired his legacy and reputation in the past year or so, and even though he wouldn’t have been losing sleep over what Carragher thinks of him, it’s nonetheless a big vindication.
While Carragher deserves credit for doing something he didn’t need to, as he could continue to play the character of “bitter Liverpool fan” for engagement, his apology actually exposed Man Utd’s biggest problem once and for all.
It’s none other than the “fans” in the media who are printing money in the name of spreading toxicity around the club by masquerading as fans.
Carragher’s apology exposes Butt, Scholes, Neville, and more
While the ex-Liverpool fan publicly accepts that he was wrong about a United player, even that’s apparently a bridge too far for fans of the club.
Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt piled on Lisandro Martinez with an ill-informed analysis, and when they were proven wrong, they doubled down on it.
Should club legends protect the badge or tell the truth?🤔
Are former Manchester United players TOO HARSH on the club in the media, or are you happy for them to tell it like it is?
Does it matter? Are current United players TOO SOFT?
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Then, again, when Martinez proved their weak criticism wrong, they went silent instead of owning up to their error.
Furthermore, they clearly revelled in the increased eyeballs this “controversy” brought to their podcast, as they posted on social media how the fans should be ready for their “response”.
Gary Neville is slightly more measured, but even he often makes statements, like once alluding that Bruno Fernandes wanted to come off against Liverpool, that he doesn’t back up with facts or own up to.
This doesn’t even mention Roy Keane, who is sometimes bitter just for the sake of it, as if he’s playing a character, unaware of the impact his words can have.
It’s a sad state of affairs when the legends of Man Utd are happy to add to the toxicity if it earns them “clout” on social media, while an ex-Liverpool player publicly accepts when he’s wrong about Casemiro.
That right there exposes the biggest problem of Man Utd. It’s these legends adding unnecessary drama to stay relevant after their retirement, even if it comes at the cost of current success.
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