There was a lot of excitement heading into this season for Manchester United fans, as while their Premier League form was dreadful last year, the club had a busy summer in the transfer market.

Unfortunately, Erik ten Hag’s side have already burst that bubble of hope. After winning their first game against Fulham last month, they proceeded to lose back-to-back games against Brighton & Hove Albion and Liverpool.

There were plenty of poor performers in both games, but Casemiro was notably off the pace, as he was last season, and while Manuel Ugarte should hopefully be his long-term replacement, the manager has claimed he won’t be match fit for some time.

However, there might just be a solution to this problem: one of the club’s own should come in to replace the Brazilian for the game away to Southampton.

Casemiro's recent form

Casemiro’s tenure at Manchester United has been a strange one, as when he arrived from Real Madrid for £70m in the summer of 2022, there were already some doubts about his age.

That said, over the course of that season, the Brazilian was fantastic and proved his doubters wrong. In fact, he was even named the signing of the season by Gary Neville.

However, for whatever reason, the legendary midfielder suddenly and dramatically regressed at the start of last year, and instead of being a monstrous defensive midfielder able to stop attacks before they began, he became a cumbersome liability who regularly got his side into trouble.

It got so bad towards the end of the campaign that former defender Jamie Carragher gave him the now-famous advice to “leave the football before the football leaves you.”

Unfortunately for the five-time Champions League winner, and United for that matter, his calamitous form has continued into this season, and so far he’s made two errors leading to a goal in just three games.

Appearances

3

Shots

6

Shots on target

1

Crosses (Accurate)

3 (1)

Fouls

1

Offsides

2

Tackles (Succesful)

10 (6)

Duels Won

16

Duels Lost

11

Aerial Battles Won

3

Aerial Battles Lost

3

Errors Leading to a Goal

2

In all, it’s time the club moved on from the 32-year-old star, and while Ugarte will likely play in his place for most of the campaign, Ten Hag has a youngster in the squad ready to step up.

Why Toby Collyer should start vs Southampton

Yes, the youngster in question is 20-year-old Toby Collyer, who joined United from Brighton in March 2022.

By then, the then 18-year-old prospect had already captained England’s U16 and U17 sides and has since gone on to make 28 appearances for the Red Devils’ U21 side and three for their U18 side.

However, it was at the start of this month that the 5 foot 11 gem caught the attention of the wider footballing world as he made his Premier League debut, coming off the bench to replace Casemiro at half time against Liverpool.

It was a trial by fire for the inexperienced Worthing-born midfielder, and while he couldn’t help the team come out with any points, he did look more assured than the Brazilian veteran and was given a 6/10 by the Express’ Amos Murphy, while the 32-year-old got a brutal but fair 1/10.

Now, it’s hard to fully judge a young midfielder off of 45 minutes in a derby and half an hour in the Community Shield. Still, the early signs are encouraging, and those in the know are incredibly excited about his future prospects.

For example, in March 2022, former Brighton U18 coach Mark Beard described him as someone “who plays like two men” and said that managers would “want 11 of these type of players in the team.”

“With Toby, he does so much of the donkey work to allow the offence to go and do what they can do. He plays like two men sometimes. As defensive midfielders go, and it is quite a disciplined role, he is probably the best in the country at doing it.” – Mark Beard.