Alan Pardew has slammed one Manchester United star following a remarkable FA Cup clash against Coventry City on Sunday.
Manchester United made hard work of booking their place in this year’s FA Cup final after a stunning second-half collapse at Wembley.
Erik ten Hag’s side were in complete control after 70 minutes played and looked set to cruise to a comfortable victory over the Championship outfit.
But with United leading 3-0 after goals from Scott McTominay, Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes, Coventry threatened to produce a comeback for the ages.
The Sky Blues took the game to penalties following an inspired second-half performance. Ellis Simms, Callum O’Hare and Haji Wright sent the game to extra time and Mark Robins’ men were denied a last-minute winner at Wembley.
Victor Torp’s effort was ruled out after Wright was judged to be marginally offside in the build-up by the VAR.
The Red Devils got the job done on penalties but once again, it wasn’t plain sailing during the shootout.
Alan Pardew slams Man United player after FA Cup semi-final
Casemiro stepped up first for United and opted to go down the middle. The Brazilian’s tame effort was easily saved by Coventry goalkeeper Bradley Collins.
Fortunately for the 32-year-old, his blushes were spared as his teammates stepped up to net all four penalties thereafter.
Andre Onana also denied O’Hare from the spot before Rasmus Hojlund netted the winning penalty.
But Pardew was unimpressed with Casemiro’s leadership qualities during yesterday’s Wembley dust-up.
The former Newcastle United boss told talkSPORT: “Going back to the leadership of Man United, what about Casemiro’s penalty today? When you’re looking at an experienced player like that, ok you’ve had a difficult period…”
“Go and take the first penalty,” Pardew added. “It was a really awful penalty. It just lacked.
“I played against Bryan Robson, [Roy] Keane, Paul Ince, you just don’t see that in this United team and Casemiro is one you’d look to and go ‘come on, you’ve got to be a leader’.
“You must have the experience to be a leader, go and put that first penalty away. Smash it into the corner to make a statement. No, not quite. That sums up United all season, that one penalty. They haven’t really had the leadership push from the senior players.
“They’ve got some good young, talented players there. Garnacho without a shadow of a doubt. McTominay’s had a good season, Rashford, he’s been up and down, Hojlund is a young player. But Fernandes, Casemiro… I don’t know!”
Casemiro has underwhelmed at United this season
The midfielder, who earns £350,000-a-week at Old Trafford, has featured regularly under Ten Hag this term.
Yet, he’s failed to find consistency in a United shirt, with some believing he is too slow for Premier League football.
Yesterday, Casemiro partnered Maguire at centre-back due to an injury crisis in the position. He looked fairly comfortable for 70 minutes but the same could be said for all of United’s players.
As a player who has lifted the Champions League on four occasions, you expect more from Casemiro.
The Brazil star had the opportunity to set the tone in the penalty shootout but opted for a cheeky effort down the middle.
Fortunately for Casemiro, his teammates bailed him out. But for a player with his level of experience, it was a surprise to see him take such a tame effort to kick off the penalty shootout.
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