Casemiro scored Manchester United’s first goal and his second in the Premier League this season in Man United’s 3-0 victory over Bournemouth. He has been phenomenal in the middle of the park for the Red Devils and his performances have made some assert that he is the best defensive midfielder in the league at the moment. In this piece, I will be assessing the veracity of that assertion.
A defensive midfielder these days is not only expected to shield his defence, he is the first point of call when a team is trying to move the ball from the defence to the attack. That will explain why I will be assessing Casemiro with other in-form defensive midfielders based on how much he contributes in the build-up, how well he uses the ball and how he has been performing his primary duty of protecting the defence.
In my opinion, Casemiro, Rodri, Moises Caicedo, Declan Rice and Thomas Partey are the best defensive midfielders at the moment. So, how well has the Brazilian midfielder performed in comparison with these other guys?
Casemiro has 4 goal contributions ( 2 goals and 2 assists) this season in the Premier League which is the joint-best among the aforementioned players. Only Rodri has as many goal contributions as Casemiro (1 goal and 3 assists).
The Manchester United midfielder has completed 79% of his passes which is lesser than Rodri who has completed 90% of his passes, most of the rest. The Manchester City midfielder has also completed more progressive passes and more passes into the final third than Casemiro and the rest.
Concerning their contribution to the team’s attack, Rodri is also the cream of the crop. He has more goal and shot creating
actions than the other 4 players aforementioned (a goal or a creating action are the last two offensive actions be it a pass, shot or a foul drawn before a goal is scored or a shot is taken).
Rodri’s involvement in the build-up becomes more obvious in the fact that he has had more touches than Casemiro and any other player in the Premier League. Yes, the way Manchester City bosses possession influences this but you will appreciate this more when you realize that Declan Rice has more touches than Casemiro, Partey and Caicedo despite playing for a team that is not possession oriented. Thus, it has to do more with the player than the team he plays for.
Defensively, Casemiro has won 48% of his tackles which is a far cry from Rodri’s who has won 73% of his though the Brazilian edges him when it comes to dribbles contested ( that is, an attempt to stop a dribbler). He has also made one more interception than Rodri despite the Spaniard playing for the team with the most possession in the league, Man City.
Rodri has also recovered the ball 143 times this season which is only bettered by Declan Rice who has made 157 recoveries having played 3 more matches than Rodri. Casemiro on the other hand has made just 82 recoveries as of the time of writing this article.
In order not to bore you with more stats, the above revelation is to show you that the assertion that Casemiro is the best defensive midfielder in the Premier League is a lie from the pit of hell. It has been established with stats from Fbref.com that Rodri is the best defensive midfielder in the league at the moment.
Casemiro has no doubt been influential for the Red Devils but to call him the best defensive midfielder in the Premier league a the moment is hyperbolic and ridiculous.
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