Mentor Manchester United Reuben Amorim he said he replaced the midfielder Casemiro during the 1–0 win over Newcastle United because he felt the Brazilian would “struggle” with the intensity of the second half.
Casemiro and Manuel Ugarte formed United’s midfield duo in the absence of Bruno Fernandes, who missed the match with a hamstring injury, but Amorim replaced the Brazilian with Leni Yoro in the 61st minute.
After seeing his number on the substitution board, Casemiro pointed to himself and was disappointed with Amorim’s decision to replace him so early in the match.
Asked to explain Casemiro’s substitution, Amorim replied: “At that moment I didn’t want to shoot [Матеуса] Cunho because he is the only one who allows us to be creative and I put him in position number 10. Jack [Флетчер] it was fresh and could continue, Manu [Угарте] he was cooler than Casemiro. In the end we decided to replace him because they were making a lot of quick passes and I felt that at that point he would have difficulty.”