So much has been made of Erik ten Hag's decision to leave Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench for the Manchester derby, that some have forgotten summer signing Casemiro was only given half an hour to make an impression.
The Manchester United boss forked out nearly £70million to bring the Brazilian midfielder to Old Trafford back in August but clearly didn't deem him ready for the stern test the Red Devils faced at the Etihad. Instead, Casemiro took a seat on the substitutes bench alongside Ronaldo.
Ten Hag's side ended up on the wrong end of a 6-3 hammering by Man City, with two of United's goals coming late on after Pep Guardiola's side had already bagged their six courtesy of hat-tricks from both Erling Haaland and Phil Foden.
Leaving Casemiro on the bench until around the hour mark may have been a mistake, at least in the eyes of United legend Rio Ferdinand who made his feelings on the matter crystal clear via his FIVE YouTube channel.
"The geeze [sic] hasn't been given a chance, he hasn't been given a fair crack of the whip. He's come in and played in a Europa League game against some dead team [Sheriff Tiraspol].
"He ain't been given a start in the team when he's fit and ready, he's regressed in terms of fitness, so he's now worse off than when he came. He still had to get up to speed when he came from that league to this league.
"I wonder the impact it's having on someone like him. Yes, he's experienced and whatnot, but he must be sitting there thinking, 'Wow, I'm happy to be here at Man United but I'm feeling a little bit disrespected here, given what I've done'. I'd be surprised if he's not feeling like that."
HAVE YOUR SAY! Should Casemiro feel disrespected by Ten Hag's decision to leave him out against City? Comment below
One player who certainly looked like he felt disrespected was Ronaldo, with television cameras constantly cutting to the 37-year-old whose face told a story as he remained on the bench the whole game as an unused substitute.
Remarkably, Ten Hag came out after the full-time whistle and revealed his reasoning for leaving Ronaldo on the bench all afternoon. The Dutchman claimed he made the decision "out of respect for his big career."
It is clear he regarded introducing the five-time Ballon d'Or winner to proceedings as a potential insult to Ronaldo's illustrious career and that bringing him on while United were 6-1 down would have been a new love for a season that has not gone to plan for the Portugal skipper.
He hasn't started a Premier League game since the 4-0 humiliation at the hands of Brentford in August and that remains his only league start to date this term.
