Paul Scholes says he was ‘SURPRISED’ by Casemiro’s ‘range of passing’

Paul Scholes has admitted to being surprised by Casemiro’s adeptness on the ball after the Brazilian put in an impressive technical display for Manchester United in the Europa League.

Casemiro was introduced at half-time for Scott McTominay and helped United to a convincing 2-0 win over Sheriff Tiraspol to kickstart their European campaign. 

Speaking to BT Sport after the game, Scholes said he believed Casemiro to be more of a ‘[ball] winner’ having watched him play alongside technical maestros Toni Kroos and Luka Modric for a number of seasons and was left pleasantly surprised by his impressive range of passing. 

He said: ‘He surprised me a little bit with his forward passing, his range of passing.

‘I thought he was more of a winner, getting the ball back in midfield. It was Kroos and Modric last year; he has more to his game and showed more of a range to his game.

Despite the quality he displayed, Scholes believes it will still take time for the former Real Madrid man to dislodge McTominay and break into Erik ten Hag’s first team. 

The Brazilian was introduced at half-time and impressed in his longest appearance yet

The Dutch manager, who had seen his side win four of their last five games heading into their clash on Thursday evening, went with his established Premier League XI in Moldova with the only change from the win over Arsenal, Cristiano Ronaldo for Marcus Rashford, being enforced owing to the latter’s injury.   

Ten Hag had rung the changes for United’s defeat to Real Sociedad in the opening round of fixtures in the Europa League last week with the Dutchman keen to ensure their European campaign was kickstarted with a victory in Moldova. 

‘I thought he [Ten Hag] was always going to pick his Premier League team [against Sheriff],’ said Scholes. 

Scott McTominay has so far managed to hold off Casemiro and retain his place in Erik ten Hag’s starting XI

‘Casemiro, we know the quality he’s got and he’ll have to work his way into that team. He did okay, just okay, last week – he’s clever, he’s experienced.

‘Eventually he will work his way into this team, but he’s going to have to wait a little bit… That’s his first game for some time and I think he will, eventually, with the quality he’s got, work his way into the team.’

Meanwhile, United will now not play a game until October 2’s clash with Manchester City after their game this weekend against Leeds United was postponed owing to the death of Queen Elizabeth II. 

With police resources stretched due to the extensive funeral arrangements, United’s clash against Leeds was postponed with a date still to be confirmed. 

The former United midfielder said the Brazilian will still have to wait a little longer to get into the established starting XI