Ten Hag comments on Casemiro red card labelled ‘irrelevant’ as Man Utd star faces four-match ban
Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag has been told his comments on Casemiro’s red card record are “irrelevant” after the Red Devils star was sent off on Sunday.
Ten Hag’s side were down to ten men in their 0-0 draw against Southampton on 34 minutes after VAR advised referee Anthony Taylor to take another look at Casemiro’s challenge on Carlos Alcaraz.
Taylor had initially awarded a yellow card but changed his decision to red after reviewing the footage which showed Casemiro clipping the top of the ball before following through onto Alcaraz’s shin.
Man Utd boss Ten Hag bemoaned VAR’s intervention and pointed to Andre Marriner – who was VAR at Old Trafford on Sunday – for failing to give a red card for Leicester defender Ricardo Pereira’s apparent stamp on Chelsea’s Joao Felix on Saturday.
“What I think is the inconsistency, players don’t know anymore what is the policy,” Ten Hag, who will now be without Casemiro for four matches, said.
“And I think it’s all across. We see it with Premier League yesterday: Leicester-Chelsea, the VAR is not coming on the line. Today, it’s coming on the line. And then it’s two penalty situations, but they don’t come on the line. Especially the first one, it was clear and obvious handball so what is the policy?”
The Man Utd boss also brought up Casemiro’s record of never getting a straight red card in his nine years at Real Madrid with the Brazilian now having two in one Premier League season.
Ten Hag added: “Of course, we talk but not a lot, so some questions we have.
“There’s another one: inconsistent. The referee is coming in the start of the season with a policy. We are Premier League, it’s coming strong here, we want intensity.
“Casemiro is across European games, over 500 games he never had a [straight] red card. Now he has two. Think about that. He plays tough but he plays fair. And also in this, he’s playing fair, same as against Crystal Palace, so it’s very debatable.
“Everyone who knows something about football, you know, and of course, when you freeze it, it looks bad. But everyone who knows something about football, who was acting on top football, they know what is bad, what isn’t bad and what is fair. And I tell you: Casemiro is a really fair player. Tough, but fair.”
But former Wycombe Wanderers and Wimbledon striker Adebayo Akinfenwa claims that Ten Hag’s comments are “irrelevant”.
Akinfenwa told talkSPORT: “Of course. What do you want to do, change the rules and the playing styles just because one player played in another country?
“For me that is such an irrelevant statement [from Ten Hag]. You can argue the Premier League is the best league in the world. He’s come into this so therefore it’s differs. Different officials, different tackles, it’s different.
“The tackles are red card offences… it’s an irrelevant statement.”
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