'The football has not left him' – Carragher stunned by Casemiro's form

Jamie Carragher quipped "the football has not left him" as he rowed back on his criticism of Manchester United's Casemiro.

The 33-year-old turned in a fantastic display on Sunday as United beat Fulham 3-2.

Casemiro scored United's opener before setting up Matheus Cunha to make it 2-0 with a sensational no-look pass early in the second half.

The Brazilian went off in the 75th minute, and United then relinquished control, with Fulham making it 2-2 before Benjamin Sesko smashed in a stoppage-time winner for the Red Devils.

Casemiro has scored five goals in the Premier League this season; only in 2020-21 with Real Madrid (six) has he ever scored more in a single season in Europe's big five leagues.

And Carragher, who memorably claimed, "the football has left him" when criticising Casemiro's displays in May 2024, has been hugely impressed by the former Madrid midfielder.

"It is now fair to say the football has not left him," Carragher said on Sky Sports.

"Considering what he's producing this season in the Premier League, and not just Fulham at home, you think what he did last week against Arsenal away and Manchester City at home.

"Casemiro is well within his rights to, if he wants to come back at me and say, 'leave the punditry before the punditry's left you!'

"He could definitely get one of those back in. Credit to him, he looks a completely different player.

"He looks like a different player physically as well. Even when I said that, you looked at him and he looked like an old man coming to the end of his time as a player.

"And whether he let himself go a little bit, or now he's being ultra professional, physically, he looks completely different."

Casemiro will leave United at the end of the season, having joined them from Los Blancos in 2022.

He won seven of his nine duels against Fulham, which was bettered among United's squad by only Harry Maguire (11/13).

Casemiro has attempted 52 tackles this season, more than any other United player, winning 27 of those. He has won 108 duels, ranking behind only Cunha (117) and Patrick Dorgu (150).