Casemiro: Everyone speaks so well of Ruben Amorim, he can help Man United grow to be at the top of the table

Casemiro had an excellent first season at Manchester United – and a poor second one. The third has shown an improvement on last season, evidence that the 32-year-old is not finished and can still offer United his experience and quality. After a poor game against Liverpool at the start of September when he was taken off at half-time, the Brazilian lost his place in the team for four matches, but he’s won it back and started the last four Premier League games, netting for a low-scoring side at West Ham. He also scored twice in a 5-2 League Cup win against Leicester City. The National spoke to him at Old Trafford after Sunday’s 3-0 Premier League win against Leicester – the last of the four games for which interim manager Ruud van Nistelrooy was in charge. “A game we enjoyed,” Casemiro said. “A lot. It was important for a us to win, to get three points”. Asked whether he’s improved on a personal level recently, he said: “Well, everyone can see can’t they? I only had the Liverpool game, right? The whole team was not good in that game, or this season. "This match, but individually, of course when the goals are missed, of course it ends up hurting the team more, but I think it's been a good season for me. “I want to continue growing, I want to continue helping my teammates and the coach, helping Manchester United grow and well, everyone knows what my job is.” United announced yesterday that Van Nistelrooy will not stay on at the club when new manager Ruben Amorim takes the reins. Casemiro performed well under Van Nistelrooy and said: “I honestly enjoyed it a lot. Everyone in Madrid that I had asked before said he was a great person so I was not surprised. “From the minute one he spoke to us and told us to always enjoy it, always to be happy always, to take advantage of the moment to play for Manchester. We often forget, don’t we? “But he was a legend at Manchester United. He was a legend at Madrid. He is a legend of number nines. It was a pleasure to share that moment with him. “It was a pleasure to share the dressing room with him, because legends are that. He who worked as a player and now is trying as a coach and for us it is a pleasure to help him.” Casemiro has looked more settled alongside Manuel Ugarte, the Uruguayan who signed from PSG in August and who had his best United game so far against Leicester. “I have a good connection with him. When one goes forward, the other covers, and vice versa. That is how it has to be, one complements the other. I think the other games have been like this. “So I have a good connection with him. He is a great person. He's a good kind of person. Then, little by little, he is also showing that he is a national team player from Uruguay, from a team that has good players. Then he has total respect, not only mine, but all the players. And well, it is good for us to have good players, so we have a much better squad.” Amorim will take over as United coach this week, another Portuguese speaker who has thrived in a league where Casemiro played – in a loan spell at Porto – before he joined Real Madrid. “We have not spoken,” he said of Amorim. “But everyone speaks so well of him. Above all he is very true, very loyal. We cannot ignore how he has changed Sporting. “We know that Sporting won many titles, changed the club with titles, with trophies. He has already proved that he is a coach that has won a lot. I think there is going to be a good template that everyone wants to grow, everyone wants to learn. I think that is the way to first help us grow to be at the top of the table.” But what level of club will Amorim walk into? United are 13th after 11 matches after a dreadful start to the season that saw manager Erik ten Hag lose his job. “Of course we have to keep improving,” said Casemiro. “We have the players to do that. We have to keep growing. We are in a good dynamic. Now comes the international break then the most important part of the season, when there are many matches and when all players are needed. “We are seeing injured players return and that is important. That is important because now, after the break, we have the most difficult stretch of the season.”

Casemiro: Everyone speaks so well of Ruben Amorim, he can help Man United grow to be at the top of the table

The Brazilian midfielder on his improved form, the future under a new manager and working with club legend Van Nistelrooy