The message that will be conveyed to Casemiro is crystal clear: he will have to fight for his position in this Manchester United team. The five-time winner of the Champions League may have arrived at Old Trafford to great fanfare and with a price tag of £60 million, but shifting Scott McTominay is proving to be more of a challenge than many of the midfielders he has dominated on the pitch in such a distinguished career. The price tag for the five-time winner of the Champions League was £60 million.

He is the most recent person to come to the conclusion that reputation is of little importance in Erik ten Hag's United change.

And justifiably so for a club that has piled on the accolades by bringing in one superstar after another in the nine years since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement.

Under the leadership of its Dutch manager, the team has entered a new era, and despite having held the position for only a few short months, he has already demonstrated that he is willing to make the tough choices. GOAL conducts an in-depth analysis of the current scenario.

GFX Casemiro, Scott McTominayGetty

Challenge

It would have been sufficient for Casemiro to have a conversation with his former Real Madrid colleagues Cristiano Ronaldo and Raphael Varane to have gained an understanding of the environment he would be entering.

Both have been marginalized during the early stages of Ten Hag's reign. Both have been forced to work their way into his plans, with Ronaldo still unable to entirely persuade even after scoring his first goal of the season on Thursday night against Sheriff Tiraspol. Both have been forced to work their way into his plans.

The 2022-23 season will be Harry Maguire's first at Manchester United and Brentford.

Consequences

A meritocracy is what Ten Hag has established. If you can perform well for him, he will support you. Should you fail, there will be consequences, such as completing a 13-kilometer run in the searing heat or being temporarily removed from the team.

He is a man who possessed the bravery to leave Real icon and France national team member Varane on the bench for the first two games of the season.

After two consecutive losses, he had the intestinal fortitude to bench his captain, Harry Maguire, as well as another England international, Luke Shaw.

Ronaldo was initially excluded, but later included before being removed once more.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who cost a reported £50 million, has hardly played throughout his career.

Statement

By excluding Casemiro from his starting lineup from the get-go, Ten Hag is sending a clear message about the importance of this decision.

After a rough start to the season, McTominay has shown tremendous growth and resilience.

Since coming on as a substitute during the second half of United's match against Brentford, when the team was already trailing 4-0, he has established himself as a mainstay.

And he is a member of the team because of his achievements; he serves as an impressive counterpoint to Christian Eriksen, and his intensity serves to complement the Dane's control.

It would have been the wrong message to convey to the dressing room for Ten Hag to drop him as soon as Casemiro walked through the door. Ten Hag is still in the beginning stages of forging a relationship with the other players in the dressing room.

Preseason appearance by Frenkie De Jong with Barcelona 2022

De Jong

On the other hand, it is anticipated that Casemiro will develop into an essential cog in United's machine. Ten Hag may not have gotten the midfielder, Frenkie de Jong, that he had his heart set on during the summer transfer window, but the position of No. 6 was seen as being of the utmost importance to Ten Hag's ambitions.

Casemiro was not his first choice, but he was very much in United's thinking throughout the transfer window. Interest in him was expressed months before the deal was finally completed and the pursuit of De Jong was abandoned. Casemiro was not United's first choice, but he was very much in United's thinking.

Some people believe that he would be a better option for Manchester United than the Barcelona midfielder in terms of being the ball-winner that they have been missing.

As a destroyer and as a link between the defense and the midfield, Ten Hag views him as absolutely essential to the success of his system. It is hoped that he will be able to form a relationship with Eriksen that will be comparable to the famous understanding shared by the Brazilian, Luka Modric, and Toni Kroos in Real's midfield.

Focal-point

This may be wishful thinking, but United's midfield currently possesses more craft than it has in recent memory. Eriksen and Casemiro are both comfortable taking the ball in tight situations, which is a significant improvement over the past.

In particular, Eriksen has emerged as the player who controls the tempo in a relatively short amount of time and has quickly become the focal point.

Casemiro has demonstrated some of the control that Ten Hag hopes he will provide to the club, despite the fact that he has only made a few outings.

His partnership with Eriksen has the potential to give United the ability to dominate possession of the ball in the same manner as the best teams in Europe. Despite all of McTominay's efforts, he does not possess those attributes in the same way.

In a similar vein, the introduction of Eriksen has brought to light the weaknesses in Fred's gameplay. Although the Brazilian is willing to press the ball, his usage of it is not even close to being up to the level set by Ten Hag for a side that the coach wants to dominate possession of the ball and unlock deep-lying defenses.

Casemiro will play for Manchester United in the 2022-23 seasonGetty

Fight

Still, it has been a slow burn for Casemiro so far, with just four substitute appearances and one start. That start came in a much-changed side against Real Sociedad, which resulted in United's sole loss in their last six games. Casemiro's one start came in a much-changed side against Real Sociedad.

This also underlines Ten Hag's reluctance to replace a team that is currently in first place.

Even if Casemiro's control was rather subtle in that one start, it was nevertheless illustrative of the impact he will have on United in the long run.

Ten Hag's desire to play out from the back is facilitated by the defenders' ability to take advantage of his consistent readiness to drop deep and gather up possession.

His foresight to cut out danger was also on display against the Spanish team, and his intensity in the tackle fits in nicely with the battling traits that Ten Hag has added to the team with the acquisitions of Lisandro Martinez and Tyrell Malacia.

Questions

If United were to lose the one game in which Casemiro started, it was more likely due to the strange decision to play Fred as a No. 10 or Ronaldo's lack of sharpness at the point of attack, not to mention a highly debatable penalty. Both of these factors contributed to the loss.

However, it was still a bit of a shock to see the 30-year-old sitting on the bench beside Sheriff, and this has led to the raising of new concerns regarding his role.

It is up to him to respond to them on the field at this point.