Jamie Carragher has been accused of being 'highly disrespectful' by Rio Ferdinand for his comments on Casemiro after Manchester United's 3-0 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday.
The 32-year-old endured a horrendous day at the office as the Reds ran riot, with Casemiro gifting two goals to Luis Diaz before Mohamed Salah added a third.
Speaking on Sky Sports after the game, Carragher didn't hold back.
Having previously told Casemiro to 'leave football before the football leaves you' earlier in the year, he then said: "He's had such a great career and won everything you can possibly win, and it is a sad sight seeing what he's going through out there.
Jamie Carragher has been accused of being 'highly disrespectful' by Rio Ferdinand for his comments on Casemiro after Manchester United's 3-0 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday
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"A poor pass can happen any time, but the second one, getting knocked over, he looks shattered as he's falling over."
But Ferdinand, discussing Casemiro on his YouTube channel, has now accused Carragher of being 'highly disrespectful'.
"I just think that's highly disrespectful," he said.
"I just think it's really disrespectful because - especially given what my man's won - there's more to it than just he's made a couple of mistakes.
"Because if you look at the two games before this season, he's been probably arguably Man Utd 's best player.
"I think it's easier to say that he's gone, he's finished.
"But I believe, when I look at him, I just feel that he's being asked to do a lot of things like play 30-yard balls and dictate the pace of the game etc.
"These are things that Man Utd would never have recruited him for because he'd never been asked to do this at Real Madrid.
"He was cleaning up, security in front, slide tackling, covering all the gaps. And then giving it to other people to play football."
Casemiro was a huge success in his first year at United.
He was key as the club finished third in the Premier League table, as well as winning the Carabao Cup.
Yet he toiled last term as the Red Devils slumped to eighth - and his form this season has set alarm bells ringing.
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Jamie Carragher has been blasted by Rio Ferdinand after taking aim at Man Utd star Casemiro
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Bruno Fernandes, meanwhile, launched a passionate defence of Casemiro after his poor performance over the weekend.
"We started the game really well and got more chances," he said.
"We have to be more clinical, this happened against Fulham too. They were clinical.
"The goals are always self-inflicted. You need to commit a mistake to give them the goal.
Casemiro was poor for Man Utd on Sunday as they lost 3-0 to fierce rivals Liverpool
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"We don't need to be pointing fingers at everyone. That won't help us now.
"When you concede a goal you can't just point at one mistake. What's the point in saying Casemiro lost the ball or Kobbie [Mainoo] lost the ball?
"They lost the ball because they wanted to be brave. It's part of football. Don't make it individual.
