Rio Ferdinand praises the character of Casemiro after error leading to Alex Iwobi goal

Rio Ferdinand has praised Casemiro for the way he reacted to his mistake early on in Manchester United's win away at Everton on Sunday evening.

Casemiro, who joined from Real Madrid at the end of the summer but was making his first league start for the club, was dispossessed by Amadou Onana before the ball ended up at the feet of Alex Iwobi who curled an effort beyond David de Gea.

Speaking on his own Vibe with Five show, Ferdinand said that he had 'confidence' Casemiro would 'weather the storm' after the mistake but that it was an introduction to the Premier League that he reacted well to.

I had confidence that this guy will weather the storm. But, it was an introduction to the Premier League, the pace of it,' he said.

'Teams getting up against you. At the Bernabeu, he's calling foul. He gets a foul, probably. But away at Goodison - what a place to [have your full] debut in the Premier League by the way, I don't care what people say it's a hard place to play.

'It was one of those games right where unless you're actually there and watching it closely, because I spent most of the game watching him closely because I was interested to see how he would adapt, and he made the mistake and so many players would have folded after that mistake away,' he added.

'And the Manchester United team have shown us this season that when they go down, they capitulate. They fold up; they shut up shop. Goodnight.'

Following his mistake, Casemiro grew into the game and eventually began to dominate the midfield with pundits left particularly impressed by his defensive work in midfield.

Ferdinand, who last week called for Casemiro's introduction to the starting line up after the defeat at Manchester City, said the Brazilian's performance showed him that he was the only midfielder in United's squad capable of defending 'instinctively'.

'Casemiro, with the ball, the clip that I set up on the show last night was Iwobi did a stepover, nicked the ball back off him and then bang, straight into Ronaldo. Goal,' he said.

'That little scene there really encapsulated what he's about. With the ball he's decent, he'll give it to players who can play forward and what not. But defensively, he was picking up positions that as a defender I could see I would be going "thank you, thank you".

He sits in pockets where the ball can't go and the players from the opposition will be I can't pass it there, because he's there. And he's so valuable for other players. He makes other players better in that sense and it's a fine art,' he added.

'He is the only player, midfielder, in our squad who instinctively knows how to defend and wants to defend. He's not the be and all end, he's not the answer to everything but he'll give us stability that we haven't had for many years now in that area.'

Ten Hag, meanwhile, praised the midfielder for growing into the game on his full debut and not seeing his 90 minutes defined by the early mistake he made.

'He is experienced. Even after a small mistake, he [remained] composed, he is doing the right things,' he said.

'He has a huge impact on the game by winning so many balls and always in good positions to receive balls, to link up, to pass around, and he was really important with the goal. A good ball in, a good pass to Cristiano and a good finish.'