Toby Collyer reveals Casemiro’s reaction after Amorim chose him instead | OneFootball

Manchester United midfielder Toby Collyer has revealed how Casemiro responded to Ruben Amorim picking him over the Brazilian star.

Setback

After Amorim took over from Erik ten Hag, he initially didn’t fancy Casemiro and often left the veteran out of his starting XIs.

At one point, Collyer found himself above Casemiro in the pecking order, as Amorim himself later confirmed to reporters.

But Casemiro worked his way back and eventually made himself indispensable to the Portuguese coach and the team. By the time Amorim was sacked, Casemiro was almost undroppable – a trend that has carried forward under interim head coach Michael Carrick.

Casemiro is set to depart United at the end of the season when his contract expires, and there have been calls from fans for him to stay for at least another year. However, he recently confirmed that there is no chance of a U-turn.

Collyer, currently on loan at Hull City, spoke to The Athletic’s Andy Mitten and revealed his admiration for Casemiro. Collyer also detailed how Casemiro responded to the early setbacks under Amorim.

Collyer opens up on Casemiro

Asked who stood out in first-team training, the United academy graduate told The Athletic, “In terms of ability, Bruno (Fernandes). Some of the stuff he does in training would have me thinking, ‘That’s not normal, I don’t understand it’. Obviously, he’s clever, but he does turns where he just finds a pass out of nowhere. It’s incredible.”

“Casemiro was a big role model too, a player I looked up to. These past four years, being around him, just watching him and seeing the little things he does. First into training, ultra professional. He’s always observing. People say he’s a warrior off the ball because he reads the game so well, but on the ball he’s exceptional as well with that one-touch around-the-corner pass. He leads by example.”

Collyer added, “Casemiro has been there and done it. When Ruben (Amorim) first came in, he wasn’t having him one bit. I was playing over Caza. I was just focused on my football.”

“I was still obviously speaking to Caza in training. He was still helping me. His English has got a lot better. He was still training very well, and I think he’s a great example because people on the outside don’t see that.”

“When he’s not playing, it’s easy for people to think, ‘Oh, he’s probably not doing well in training’. But he wasn’t. He was giving everything every day.”

“He was the first one in every day. Even when he wasn’t getting picked, he was one of the last ones to leave. He was always in the ice bath, jacuzzi, always doing his gym work, always doing his prep, always giving everything in training. And you could see he was trying to implement what the manager wanted as well.”

“Even so he wasn’t playing, so from me seeing that I could take so much from that. He’s been there and done that. Not getting picked was probably a big shock for him, maybe something he hasn’t experienced. For him to obviously carry on and keep doing the right things just shows how much of a pro he is.”

“With me, he’d just call you over and explain things. That’s why I think I look up to him so much. There are players who are looked up to and then when other players are with them, their views change, but my views on Casemiro haven’t changed.”

United are next in action on Saturday when they go away to Sunderland.

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