Ian Wright is spot on - Jamie Carragher's brutal criticism of struggling Man Utd star is far too harsh

When a pint of milk begins to sour, it does not become immediately useless. Granted, left alone to uphold the integrity of a bowl of cereal, it may be caught slipping into nose-scrunching, taste-bud-wincing pungency, but in a cup of tea, for instance, where it is supported and excused by a bag of leaves and a glug of boiling water and a spoonful or three of sugar, it can, on a good day, just about get by. Casemiro is, for the sake of laboured analogies, a spoiling carton of milk, and in recent days, everybody has been taking a turn at unscrewing his lid and stealing a sniff.

First, there was Jamie Carragher. On Monday night, the Brazilian midfielder was part of a Manchester United side that went to Selhurst Park and imploded like a croissant beneath a hobnailed boot. Throughout, he looked lethargic and beleaguered and some cosmic distance short of the five-time Champions League winner that the Red Devils were so evidently smug about signing a couple of summers ago. None of this was lost on Carragher.

Speaking on Sky Sports’ coverage of the 4-0 defeat, the pundit said: ‘I think Casemiro, deadly serious, should know himself tonight as an experienced player that he should only have another three games left at the top level. The next two league games and the [FA] Cup final. 

'And he should be thinking "I need to go to the MLS or Saudi". I'm deadly serious. He's ageing, the people around him they need to tell him this has to stop. He's been an absolute great. I am nowhere near on a level of what that man has achieved. Champions Leagues, playing for Brazil, playing for Real Madrid. 

'But I always remember something when I retired myself, there was a saying I always  remember as a footballer, "leave the football before the football leaves you". The football has left him at this top level he needs to call it a day at this level of football and move.'

A blunt assessment if ever there was one, and one that rankled Ian Wright enough that the former Arsenal striker felt the need to retort on Casemiro’s behalf. Speaking on the Wrighty's House Podcast, he said: ‘I wanted to mention Casemiro quickly because he's been one of the main talking points after that game.

'We saw Jamie Carragher mention him on the show, about how great he's been over the years and that maybe he should stop now and go to the MLS or Saudi which I thought was really quite disrespectful if I'm being honest. Whatever people say about him, I don't think he is done. I don't think he is. You can see we're talking about a world-class player who's played in a world-class team. A club of United's stature should have players who can help him.'

It is a tangled debate to unpick. On the one hand, Casemiro frequently plays like a walrus towing a caravan. His performances have not been up to scratch this season, and his output is so consistently lacking that he has strayed, in the eyes of many, from the realms of ‘new age Galactico’ to ‘recurring social media punchline’. That being said, good footballers do not become bad footballers overnight, and having only turned 32 in February, the South American is hardly a walking cadaver.

Instead, you suspect that his dip in productivity is emblematic of the general malaise that has infected United writ large in recent times. Very, very few of Casemiro’s teammates have played to an acceptable standard this season, and while that doesn’t exonerate the midfielder, it does at least suggest that he is part of a broader problem.

There are, then, two probable solutions. One involves United rebuilding an ailing midfield with Casemiro as an appreciated, if lesser, component of it. Bring in new recruits to compliment him, and, if needs be, paper over some of the apparent weaknesses that are becoming more conspicuous in his game.

The other is to get rid; move him on and look to the future. If that were to happen, maybe Casemiro himself would favour the glittering financial compensation of a stint in Saudi Arabia or the USA. But by no means are they the only national leagues, with their diminished reputations, that he is fit for. There are still any number of clubs across Europe and South America who would bite United’s proverbial hand off for a chance to provide the midfielder with an escape route from Old Trafford.

There’s no denying that Casemiro has been bad recently, but that doesn’t automatically mean that he is finished altogether.