The defenders have got more Premier League assists than the midfielders and the forwards have between them. The defensive midfielders have three times as many league goals as the many forwards have mustered. Welcome to Manchester United, where few things go quite as planned, where Saturday’s spectacular salvage job from a fan who has been on the books for two decades involved a brace from Scott McTominay, not Marcus Rashford. They trailed for an hour against Crystal Palace. It is the sort of scenario in which managers rarely replace their top scorer. Yet as their leading marksman is another defensive midfielder, Casemiro, that was not the most notable element of his half-time removal. Nor, even, was it Erik ten Hag’s somewhat brutal explanation for introducing Christian Eriksen. “I wanted more football,” the United manager said. “Someone who brings passing and link-up play.” The Brazilian had brought passing: he passed the ball to Bryan Mbuemo to set Brentford on their way to an opener, a goal for which he arguably made three mistakes. And yet the pertinent part was simply the fact he was taken off. Ten Hag’s talismen are no longer untouchables. Rashford has been taken off in the last three games, each at a point when United needed a goal. And if suggests that neither status nor last season’s excellence can protect them forever, it is also an indication that each ranks among this season’s disappointments. All of which meant Casemiro’s status as an award winner was revealing of a wider malaise at Old Trafford. He had won September’s player-of-the-month prize with a whopping 70 percent of the vote. Perhaps a tour de force in the Carabao Cup victory over Crystal Palace, along with some recency bias, helped. Maybe a brace against Bayern Munich did, too, though it came too late to be relevant. Yet it pointed to a lack of alternatives: by Casemiro’s standards, he did not play well in September. It will be still more damning if he retains the award for October. Casemiro’s two appearances this month have ended early: sent off against Galatasaray, hauled off against Brentford, there were two warning signs. The first came from the officials, the second from the manager. If his red card in the Champions League owed much to Andre Onana, with Casemiro’s desperate slide at Dries Mertens coming after the goalkeeper had coughed up possession, it nevertheless felt symbolic. Casemiro’s tackling technique means he goes to ground too often. As he is getting slower, he is likelier to foul. The naked eye suggests he has been exposed, isolated and bypassed too often, in part when Ten Hag’s tactics have left him stranded behind Bruno Fernandes and Mason Mount. The statistics show the supposed ball-winner is regaining it less often. In turn, that may mean he is sent off more often. Casemiro is making fewer interceptions: 0.69 per 90 minutes, compared to 1.43 last season and 2.17 for Real in 2020-21. His 2.91 tackles per 90 minutes is down from 3.77. He is winning fewer than half of his duels, according to Soccerment statistics. To put it another way, the defensive midfielder is not protecting the defence. The goals and assists that he, Scott McTominay and the back four have got are welcome but the defensively-minded personnel have failed to do their day job too often. If Onana is the most obvious culprit, he is not the only one. The intriguing element was that, arguably, Brentford was the first time where Casemiro began in midfield but not as the holding player. With Sofyan Amrabat starting in his preferred position, ending the unsuccessful experiment of deploying the Moroccan at left-back, Casemiro was often found in more advanced areas. As Ten Hag indicated, Eriksen is more of a playmaker and was then granted those duties instead. Yet as Casemiro’s United career shows, he can be both scorer and creator. He has the talent to contribute as each. Perhaps his future could lie as a constructive presence. Yet he was bought as a destructive one. His growing immobility provides a concern that this is not just a loss of form or an issue with United’s tactics. There is the opportunity to look for more solidity by pairing Casemiro and Amrabat in front of the back four. But there is the ticking timebomb that came with his transfer. Real Madrid pensioned Casemiro off, taking £63m for a player in his thirties. He has almost three years left on one of the biggest contracts in United’s history. He would not be the first player to be paid to decline at Old Trafford; perhaps now Ten Hag has signalled to Casemiro that he has to prove he is not a fading force, that his past and his Champions Leagues are no guarantee of a place when Amrabat could play instead. “In football it is eat or get eaten,” the United manager said. If Casemiro polished off the partnership of McFred, Saturday was one of the finest days of McTominay’s United career, and among the worst of his. Read More Arsenal deal substantial blow to Manchester City, but the significance will only be felt in May Erik ten Hag wants Man Utd late show to be ‘a turning point’ Erik ten Hag reveals how close Manchester United came to selling Scott McTominay Rasmus Hojlund says Manchester United must ‘stick together’ in ‘tough period’ Erik ten Hag vows to fight on ‘together’ with Manchester United Jude Bellingham helps Real Madrid to victory and Bayern Munich hit back to win

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Kieran Trippier confronted angry Newcastle fans following their 2-0 defeat at Bournemouth. The injury-hit Magpies were downed by Dominic Solanke’s second-half double on the south coast. As the players went to applaud the travelling fans after the final whistle, England full-back Trippier was filmed on social media responding to a supporter by saying: “Are the lads not giving everything? How many injuries have we got?” Afterwards, Trippier played down the incident. He told Sky Sports: “The fans are emotional, they have travelled a long way. “I had a chat with one of them, saying we are giving everything and there’s no need to panic. “We got beat and we apologise for that result, but the lads are giving everything.” Manager Eddie Howe admitted he understood the fans’ frustrations. “Kieran is fine. Emotions run high,” he said. “We all feel a bit emotional after that from our perspective. We value all our away support, we value them greatly. We thank them for their support.” It was a nightmare return to Bournemouth for Howe, who saw his side’s seven-match unbeaten Premier League run end and their injury crisis deepen. The Magpies were already missing 11 players through injury and suspension after Callum Wilson injured a hamstring in the midweek defeat at Borussia Dortmund. Howe revealed Wilson will withdraw from the England squad and faces a spell on the sidelines. They then lost Miguel Almiron to another hamstring problem midway through the first half. The long casualty list meant a first Premier League start for 17-year-old Lewis Miley in central midfield. Such are Newcastle’s lack of options they ended the match with Ben Parkinson, an 18-year-old who had never previously made a first-team appearance, playing alone in attack. “It was a game where we couldn’t be where we needed to be for it and it was a tough watch. We were unrecognisable today,” added Howe, who was the Cherries manager the last time they beat Newcastle in 2017. I think we really deserved this win Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola “It was a real off day. There are reasons, but I don’t want to sit here and make excuses. I want to support the players.” The only surprise was that it took dominant Bournemouth an hour before they made the breakthrough. Joe Willock challenged Antoine Semenyo, the ball rolled off him into the path of Solanke who raced into the area and lashed his shot inside Nick Pope’s near post. Bournemouth doubled the lead from a corner, Solanke flicking the rebound home with his heel after Luis Sinisterra’s header hit a post. It secured only a second win of the season for Bournemouth and lifted them out of the bottom three. Boss Andoni Iraola said: “I think we really deserved this win. We played well and had good chances. Luckily we finished the job in the second half. “Dom has been very good for us. On the ball and off the ball, he helps his team-mates. He missed chances in the first half, but cleared his mind and continued playing the same way.” Read More She’s a tough cookie – Jodie Burrage backed to bounce back from nightmare debut Sean Dyche: Everton are starting to show belief on the road after latest win Mikel Arteta: ‘I’m completely with referees’ Jack Draper has grand ambitions for 2024 after falling short in Sofia Open final Matthew Mott admits some ageing England players face ‘line in the sand moment’ Ben Stokes and Joe Root give England hope of ending World Cup on a high

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Ron DeSantis has offered his own definition of “woke” days after Donald Trump said “half the people” can’t define the Florida governor’s favourite word. During a campaign stop in Iowa on Saturday, Mr DeSantis said: “Look, we know what woke is, it’s a form of cultural Marxism. It’s about putting merit and achievement behind identity politics, and it’s basically a war on the truth.” Two days earlier, Mr Trump criticised the GOP’s overuse of the word at his own campaign event in Iowa. “I don’t like the term ‘woke’ because I hear, ‘Woke, woke, woke.’ It’s just a term they use, half the people can’t even define it,” he said. Also on Saturday, Mr DeSantis vowed to dismantle President Joe Biden’s “disastrous” economic policies if he wins the White House. The Iowa visit came at the end of a week marked by multiple tense outbursts. In South Carolina on Friday, a woman interrupted Mr DeSantis’ speech by shouting: “You’re a f***ing fascist.” This prompted boos from the wider audience, with Mr DeSantis replying: “ Well, yeah, thank you.” Read More DeSantis defines ‘woke’ after Trump claimed ‘half the people can’t’ DeSantis condemns Trump for congratulating ‘murderous dictator’ Kim Jong-un Transgender adults in Florida `blindsided' that new law also limits their access to health care DeSantis, Pence and other GOP 2024 hopefuls, but not Trump, set to appear at Iowa rally