Casemiro is just one booking away from a suspension and Ruben Amorim will have a major selection dilemma on his hands if the Brazil international is banned
Ruben Amorim could be facing a selection headache if Casemiro picks up his fifth booking of the season. The Manchester United midfielder is on thin ice after receiving his fourth yellow card of the campaign in Monday’s 1-0 loss to Everton.
If Casemiro gets another yellow card before United’s 19th Premier League match, he’ll have to sit out one game due to suspension. If the Brazil international does pick up that caution and subsequent ban, it would leave Amorim with a significant selection problem.
This is because Manuel Ugarte, who would naturally step into Casemiro’s role, isn’t currently in favour with Amorim. In fact, Ugarte has only clocked up 346 minutes across 10 appearances (seven as a substitute) in all competitions this season. The Uruguayan last started in the 3-1 defeat at Brentford in September.
Casemiro has been United’s go-to No.6 for some time, with Ugarte relegated to a reserve role and Kobbie Mainoo providing competition for Bruno Fernandes instead.
Given the players at his disposal, Amorim has established his preferred midfield partnership, and a ban for Casemiro would certainly throw a spanner in the works, particularly as Ugarte hasn’t seen much action.
Ahead of his team’s match against Everton, Amorim spoke in-length about Ugarte, challenging him to improve his training performance amid concerns about his displays for the Reds.
When asked about whether Ugarte’s struggles at Old Trafford came as a shock, Amorim replied: “No, I understand. If, again.. you are here [Manchester] longer than me, and you can sense that a lot of very good players come here, and sometimes they struggle.
“And they are struggling, he is struggling in the moment. But it is our job to try to help our players, and again, everything can change. And you saw it five weeks ago, the environment was completely different.
“So I know that Ugarte is struggling in the moment and my job is trying to help him to feel as a player, like I felt when he was a Sporting player, for example. But it is a different world and he needs to adapt and he needs to improve, especially in training.”
Ugarte and Amorim previously collaborated at Sporting CP before the Uruguay midfielder opted to move to Paris Saint-Germain in a £51m transfer in June 2023. Nevertheless, he found life difficult at the Parc des Princes and left after barely more than a year, joining United in August 2024.
He made an immediate impression under Erik ten Hag but began to falter as the campaign progressed, with Casemiro taking his place towards the end of the previous season as Amorim decided to ring the changes. This term, Ugarte has only been handed two Premier League starts against Manchester City and Brentford.