MANCHESTER UNITED plan on signing two midfielders in the summer. They need three.
Kobbie Mainoo will inevitably sign a new contract now he is back in the fold and Bournemouth was his 11th successive start.
But Casemiro’s role in United’s dropped points again exposed the gaping chink in United’s armour that their opponents easily exploit.
It was only last week that a few deluded thousand Stretford Enders were chanting “One more year, one more year, Casemiro”. A lot of United fans despaired at that fickleness.
That chant was conspicuous by its absence on the terraces at the Vitality Stadium, where United’s hardcore followers were never going to sound as impressionable as those at Old Trafford had five days earlier.
For the 11th time this season, Casemiro was shown a yellow card. Regular watchers of United know that whenever this happens, he is borderline redundant.
In every game that he has been booked, Casemiro has not finished it. At Bournemouth, he was carded in the 28th minute. His shelf-life should not have extended beyond the hour.
At Liverpool in October, Casemiro was booked in the 57th minute and substituted in the 58th.
Michael Carrick is more positive and proactive with his substitutes but Ruben Amorim was more reactive where Casemiro was concerned.
At Bournemouth, Casemiro plodded on for 82 minutes and by the time his number flashed up, the scoreboard had changed again.
United’s midfield was too loose on Bournemouth’s compact pitch, where they have form for allowing contests to descend into chaos.
Two forward-thinking passes from Marcus Tavernier and Junior Kroupi inside the United third played in Evanilson, who was impeded by Harry Maguire inside the area.
Casemiro followed the red-carded Maguire off the pitch, as Michael Carrick was forced to settle for a point in a match that United had led twice.
United do not have the personnel to see out most games comfortably and keep opponents at arm’s length.
Four of United’s seven wins under Carrick have been by one goal and three of their ten opponents have had red cards to contend with.
Their 2-0 defeat of Manchester City was a rip-roaring, adrenaline-fuelled triumph but 81st-minute goals were required to open up two-goal advantages against Tottenham and Aston Villa.
The hesitancy for Carrick in delaying Casemiro’s withdrawal is doubtless down to the choice of replacement.
Manuel Ugarte is the only other defensive midfielder in the United squad and purportedly Casemiro’s heir. He is more of a spare.
Carrick actually replaced Casemiro with Ugarte on 61 minutes at Newcastle earlier this month. The key context was that United had a man advantage after Jacob Ramsey’s first-half dismissal.
Ugarte is a £50.75million dud. In a season where he has only started nine times, United have conceded 25 goals with him on the pitch, nine of them after he has emerged as a substitute.
So it was a modicum of progress for Ugarte, sent on in the 81st minute, that United did not ship a winning goal. There were nine minutes of added time and the game stretched into the 100th minute.
It was when the game hit that mark that Ugarte brainlessly committed a foul on the touchline just inside the United third.
United were clinging on for a point and a man light. They must have felt like they were reduced to nine men after Ugarte helpfully teed up one more opportunity for Bournemouth.
Casemiro will go in the summer and plenty of United fans would drive Ugarte to Manchester Airport and pay the drop-off charge.
He lost the confidence of Amorim, his coach at Sporting, and has not gained enough trust from Carrick to earn a start.
With over-the-hill and underwhelming midfield protection, United’s defence is shielded by obstacles about as sturdy as papier mache.
Casemiro was once dubbed the “cement between the stones” by Erik ten Hag but he cracked long ago. United’s power brokers have not been hoodwinked by Casemiro’s respectable form this season and are right to release him in June.
Come next season, with European football back on the agenda, United will need at least four midfielders and it feels fanciful that Ugarte will be one of them.
The 24-year-old is two seasons in and the number of truly impressive performances he has produced can be counted on one hand.
Alex Scott, omitted from the England squad, excelled against United, who admire the Jersey-born conductor.
Scott’s performance was a reminder that United will require silk and steel in the summer; a controller and a combatant in midfield.
That’s two, but they will still need a third.
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