After Manchester United’s 1-0 win, which was propelled by David de Gea’s spectacular saves, coach Erik ten Hag spoke to the media and analyzed the role of his players, although he singled out one in particular: Casemiro. The Brazilian, the former Real Madrid player, is already a point of reference in the “Red Devils” midfield.
The Dutch coach praised him: “For me, Casemiro has been excellent. You can clearly see why he has won five Champions Leagues.” Furthermore, Ten Hag also spoke about the importance of his defense: “Manchester United also needs two good defenders, on the right and on the left, because we have many games ahead of us.”
Things could have been different had they scored another goal earlier in the game, but they missed some good chances, notably a flurry of chances for Ronaldo. Speaking after the match, Ten Hag gave his verdict on Ronaldo’s performance and his attacking play as a whole:
“I think he did pretty well. Cristiano did what we expect, lead the press. We have the quality to score goals, but we need to improve the effectiveness of our attacking football. We are going in this direction, but it is a long way to go.”