CASEMIRO may have been stupid in the second tier of European competition.
After all, he arrived at Old Trafford having won the Champions League five times.
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Considering the heights the Brazilian has reached in his career, chances are he hasn’t even heard of a team called Omonia Nicosia – or at least they’ve never been on his radar.
Yet, as he showed against the pesky side of Neil Lennon, nothing is below him when it comes to his midfield work.
As those ahead of him struggled to break down their Cypriot opponents, the 30-year-old showed exactly why boss Erik ten Hag persuaded Manchester United to pay £70million for his services.
There were those who said he flattered to cheat as he formed the defensive part of a triangle completed by Luka Modric and Toni Kroos.
His doubters suggested he lacked pace and could be caught on the turn.
That, in fact, it would be an accident waiting to happen in the Premier League’s greatest intensity.
And so there would have been quite a few who would have said ‘told you so’ when he was ambushed on the ball by Amadou Onoha before Alex Iwobi opened the scoring for Everton on Sunday night.
However, he never took the wrong foot after this first punitive moment.
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Indeed, he has grown impressively in the game, showing that he is not only a destroyer, but can also be dangerous in the future.
He should have scored with a diving header and then two minutes later taken Iwobi into possession.
His instant through ball for Cristiano Ronaldo to win the record 700e goal of his career – which turned out to be the winner of United’s triumphant 2-1 comeback, was measured perfectly.
Against Omonia, when he ventured forward late in the first half, he accepted a pass from Marcus Rashford, stepped forward and fired a 25-yard shot against the bar .
Shortly after, he could, and probably should, have scored with a header in the middle of a ruck of players.
But he was brought in to provide protection for the back four.
And against Omonia, as he also did after that initial mistake on his first Premier League start, he showed he takes his job very seriously.
His calculated caution begins to bring stability to the central core of Ten Hag’s team.
Here is a player who never switches to automatic, but who can switch gears when he wants.
And that’s starting to look like an automatic choice now that its installation period is over.
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