Martin Keown says Casemiro was ‘100% right’ to turn red as Manchester United star told him to change his tackling technique

Martin Keown believes Casemiro was right to be sent off for Manchester United, suggesting he has only himself to blame.

The Brazilian star has been sensational for the Red Devils this season but has left his side in the lurch after he issued a tough challenge to Southampton’s Carlos Alcaraz.

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Although Anthony Taylor was only given a yellow card early on, a VAR review saw that card turned red as Casemiro received his marching orders.

With the match ending 0-0, the central midfielder will now miss United’s next four domestic matches, which Erik ten Hag says is unfair due to the inconsistencies in the refereeing.

He said: “The referees came into the season with a policy, that we are the Premier League, we want intensity and we want to go hard.

“Casemiro has played 500 games in Europe and has never had a (direct) red card, and now he has two. He plays tough but fair.

“Of course it looks bad when you freeze the frame, but anyone who knows football knows what is bad and what is right. I tell you Casemiro is a very fair player.

Responding to Ten Hag’s comments, Keown told White and Jordan: “To a certain extent, he scores a point.

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“If you look at the Premier League, we’ve only had 23 sending offs this year while there are 101 in La Liga, so you might look at it and think there’s a man who just arrived from La Liga. Liga but who has never been expelled unless it is a right-reds.

“It’s worth having a debate, but when you look at the incidents he was involved in, you can’t really argue.

“Although when you watch the first one when he had his hands on an opponent’s throat at Palace, I think the slow motion kills him there because he’s not squeezing the guy by the throat, he just places his hand there -low, I think it was Will Hughes, and then he pulled his hand away and that’s why it looked more like it was.

“That one I thought was a sending off and I think it’s due to the tackling technique.

“As a tackle it was my game as a contact defender, I went into a tackle on my side and for anyone listening, if you look at Casemiro he came in on the back. When you come in on the back , your foot should go up and okay, he wins the ball, but his cleats are visible, his foot goes up above the ball and catches the opponent.

“If he tries to slide to his side with a different technique, he can pinch that ball and not hurt his opponent.

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“That, for me, has crept into the game. You see a lot of it now of people going into a challenge and I know it looks worse in slow motion and I would like PGMOL to watch that last one. one thing he sees when he goes to the edge of the pitch is the action played at top speed.”

Keown added: “You can’t get hurt when you go in like that. You’re protecting yourself and putting your opponent at risk.

“Change your technique, go your own way. Slide your hip it’s a different technique and the modern player seems to come in on his back and what happens is you drop back and it lifts your legs and so his foot is going to come up if he takes that technique . in tackles.

Keown added: “He missed it, Anthony Taylor. There was a lack of broadcast at the weekend and Anthony Taylor didn’t see it and it went to VAR I believe.

“He didn’t see the actual incident and gave a yellow. It’s interesting, there are a lot of people pointing out what happened in the Leicester game after a tackle on Joao Felix and they haven’t even seen it again.

“It was undisputed – no yellow card, no red card.”

When asked if they had received Casemiro’s red card, Keown replied: “100 per cent they got it right and maybe they got it right what happened at Leicester the day before. “

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