Funny how one game can change the way we see on a guy that has been one of the, if not best, CDM for the last 6-7 years.
Casemiro has still not played 90 minutes for the club and we are already made up our minds that he is "finished"?
First of all, what did we expect we bought him? He will never be a ball carrying player, neither will he get a ton of assist or goals. He will not dribble past 3-4 guys. He will not shine like other player and be the one that the average supporter will put his MOTM vote on. He won't change his hair every game, or wear fancy things. He will not be the one to ask to take a penalty in 93 minute just so he can be the one that wins the for us.
So what will get out of him? I believe that we will get a player that will fight for his place in the team without complaining if he doesn't start every game, he will give his all on the pitch and fight for his teammate without asking for anything more then that in return. He will run his socks of and try to win the ball every chance he gets. He will make the right decisions. He will pass the ball to the guy that he believes can make more out of the situation then he can. He will inspire people around him to run that extra 1 meter because he will run 2 if needed. He will always have the fighting spirit. He will do the dirty work that others don't think is important. We have added that in our defense by buying Martinez, in our midfield with Casemiro, in our offense with Antony. What this team more then quality is character, and that is what we got in these guys and its paying of.
Antonys performance today was not good, if he didn't score, he would be unnoticed. He made some pore decisions, he didn't press their LB at all first 45 minutes, he looked nervous and got by the moment. But I didn't expect more from a young lad that just arrived in England and moved to the best league in the world. My point is, if we are saying that Casemiro is finished already, before we even gave him 90 minutes to prove anything else, then what are the 100m spent on Antony?
I believe that Casemiro will be more important for us this season then Antony, while I'm sure that Antony will be great success. We need to give the time to learn some English, get to know their new teammates, get used to the PL and the life in England. Give it at least 10 games before even trying to judge either one of them.