Journo saw what De Ligt did to Casemiro instantly after disastrous error vs Arsenal | OneFootball

It goes without saying that standards at Manchester United have been on a steady decline since Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure in 2013.

Still, it’s still difficult to get to grips with the reality of the situation – especially when watching two quality stars congratulate each other after a totally avoidable error goes unpunished.

One such moment transpired during the Red Devils’ hosting of Premier League title hopefuls Arsenal at Old Trafford.

A penny for head coach Ruben Amorim’s thoughts as the former Sporting Lisbon boss looks to implement a changed culture on the red half of Manchester.

United players congratulate each other after Arsenal error

(Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Casemiro and Mathhijs de Ligt can count themselves very fortunate men indeed after a near calamitous start to our encounter with Mikel Arteta’s men.

The pairing almost gifted the marauding, would-be striker Mikel Merino an early goal after a fumble around the 18-yard box.

Fortunately, Andre Onana was alert to the danger, smothering the ball before the Spaniard could add to his tally of four Premier League goals in the 2024/25 season.

Unfortunately for De Ligt and Casemiro, it didn’t escape the notice of Samuel Luckhurst on X (formerly Twitter) that the pair celebrated having their blushes spared.

Difficult to judge Matthijs de Ligt

It would be quite unfair to hammer the Dutch centre-half over this one incident given he’s been far from the worst thing about United this term.

According to Sofascore‘s statistical analysis of our squad’s performances in the English top-flight – that dishonour apparently belongs to out-of-favour hitman Rasmus Hojlund.

That said, he’s evidently far from infallible, amid ongoing questions over whether his quality is befitting of an institution the size of Manchester United.

Whilst some will rightfully point out that it should be up to Bruno Fernandes and Amorim to set the standards and demand excellence, we can’t help but feel the reaction to the joint error wasn’t quite appropriate.

We’re not looking for discord and scuffles between United players on the pitch, but surely a willingness to hold one another accountable and set a higher bar for performance wouldn’t go amiss?