Ten Hag explains Man Utd U-turn on Casemiro red card after slamming decision

07 February 2023 , 12:59

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Erik ten Hag has confirmed Manchester United will not appeal against Casemiro's suspension

Erik ten Hag has revealed Manchester United have U-turned on their plan to appeal against Casemiro 's suspension for his sending off against Crystal Palace.

The midfielder was sent off after VAR Tony Harrington spotted he had grabbed the neck of Palace star Will Hughes. Casemiro was subsequently sent off, though Ten Hag hinted afterwards that the Red Devils would weigh up appealing.

But United have now rowed back on that stance, with Ten Hag confirming the Brazilian would miss Wednesday's game with Leeds. He is one of six absences, with Anthony Martial, Christian Eriksen, Scott McTominay, Donny van de Beek and Antony all also ruled out of the clash.

"Consider, yeah. Still it's for me not the right decision but I don't think we have a chance in a legal process," Ten Hag said.

"They [Martial and McTominay] are not involved tomorrow. And the same with Antony dos Santos. He is also not available for tomorrow so we have to sort that out. I always have to play with the players who are available.

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"We have a squad, we have many good players in our squad who are also not playing in the starting XI and I have to do it. After a game I can't say Casemiro is not there, Anthony Martial is not there, we have to win. United are capable and we have to win the games no matter who is on the pitch."

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Casemiro was sent off after appearing to grab the neck of Will Hughes (Getty Images)

While United have suffered the blow of seeing four players ruled out, Leeds are without a manager after sacking Jesse Marsch on Monday. But Ten Hag is taking nothing for granted as United seek to close the gap on Premier League leaders Arsenal.

"It's about the match of the roses. It's definitely a big, big game. It's part of England. It's big for us. We have Man City, Liverpool but for our fans this game means so much and our players will know what to do," he added.

"Definitely, you don't know. We have to be aware of that so when Jesse Marsch was at Leeds it was clear how they played. Now it's possible they change but it's also possible they don't. We will only find out on the pitch tomorrow.

"But we need good anticipation on that so we know what to do. Anticipation like we had against Villa when Emery came in, we had a week to prepare but not as much this time. We will see but we need to be proactive.

"Always said if a manager gets sacked, in general I don’t believe in it. Let managers do their work. The pressure is high with decision makers in football clubs but if you see the stats, mostly it doesn’t work out so well."

Jacob Leeks