THERE MAY BE CASEMIRO FEELS LIKE A KID AGAIN
But Nou Camp hero Irwin’s hoping Reds can halt City run MAN CITY v MAN UNITED
CASEMIRO admits helping to revive the fortunes of Manchester United has made him feel like a big kid again.
And the Brazilian reckons United are well on the road to recovery under Erik ten Hag.
Few have done more to lift United out of the gutter this season than Casemiro, following his €80m move from Real Madrid last summer.
The midfielder has been sensational, and the man himself reckons he’s had so much fun playing for United, it has taken years off him.
Casemiro, 31, said: “I’m delighted to be here. I’m enjoying myself. The club and fans have been brilliant.
“I love the affection I get from them and that everyone has behaved so well towards me.
“I’m very happy and I’m enjoying myself as if I was 20-year-old kid.
“It isn’t just me, it’s my whole family too that are happy here as well.”
Final
United will need all of the Brazilian’s brilliance at Wembley today when Ten Hag’s men take on Manchester City in what promises to be an explosive FA Cup final.
But Ten Hag can call upon someone with unrivalled experience of finals following Casemiro’s glittering career in the Spanish capital.
He lost just one of 15 finals in which he played, in the process of winning 18 trophies with Real, including a five Champions League titles.
He said: “Without doubt it’s a significant stat but of course when you play, you want to win every single final.
“I have been in a fair few finals now.
I’m experienced, too. I’ve already played in many finals and I’ll try to pass that on to my team-mates.
“Each final is different. All of us and everyone connected with Manchester
United would love to win it but we also know that it’s a oneoff game and a very tough one at that.
“But we are really pumped up to try to win it.”
The stakes are monumental this afternoon, considering United can end City’s Treble dream and prevent their neighbours from becoming just the second team in history — along with them from 1999 — to have achieved such a feat.
But Casemiro admits he couldn’t care less about what City could go on to do and insists United have to focus on themselves in a bid to land a double of their own.
He said: “We aren’t thinking about City.
“We’re thinking that we have a final and we know it’s very important for us.
“We know that City can have great season by achieving something big but we’re not thinking about City, we’re only thinking about ourselves.
“City deserve credit for what they’ve done and they have our complete respect.
“But we have this game and we want to win it.
“We know it’s going to be a very difficult game but we’re not thinking about City’s Treble.
“We’re thinking about winning another trophy for ourselves.” (left)
DENIS IRWIN isn’t one for counting his medals.
He hasn’t seen them in years. Legacy matters more than trinkets to the joint-most successful Irish player of all time.
He shares that honour with his former Manchester United teammate Roy Keane and Liverpool legend Ronnie Whelan.
The trio won 19 trophies apiece across stellar careers, but Irwin and Keane ultimately boast the treble that matters.
United remain the only English side to have won the league title, FA Cup and Champions League in the same season.
Starring
While Keane was suspended for United’s 1999 win over Bayern Munich, Irwin played a starring role at Camp Nou. Not that his winner’s medal — or any of them for that matter — takes pride of place in his Manchester home.
“They’re down the museum, I don’t see them at all,” beams the 57-year-old Red Devils legend.
“It (Manchester United’s museum) is the safest place to have them. I’m not one to look back. It is what it is. Every year a team tries to win a treble. But this year it just seems more doable.”
Irwin doesn’t want Manchester City emulating his old team’s heroics from 24 years ago.
Pep Guardiola’s galacticos already have the Premier League crown in the bag and face United in today’s FA Cup final.
Then, next Saturday, they lock horns with Inter Milan in the Champions League decider in Istanbul, where they are favourites.
But Irwin hopes their treble dreams are dashed by then.
“I’m more interested than most in Champions League finals as I hope they’re not going for the treble by the time it comes around,” he says.
“But the Champions League final is the pinnacle of club football — and I know that. It’s a chance for City to put themselves out to be a great team, to be fair.
“And they have been a really good team when you look at the leagues they have won in the last five or six years. But to be known as a really, really great side you have to win the Champions League and become the best in Europe.
Emulate
“We’re the only team that has ever done it and that shows you how hard it is to win one.
“Liverpool have gone close and it looked like City would as well. But if anyone is going to emulate it, it’s the Man City of today.”
When Irwin is asked what he remembers most about United’s treble victory in 99, it’s the resolve shown across a 10-day period where they barely had time to think in between games, yet hoovered up all three trophies.
“It just went so quick, it’s like a blur,” he says. “The one thing about us that year is we had great belief in ourselves.
“We always knew we could score goals. We showed great resilience to come back in games, and we knew we could always score in the last minute.
“The Spurs game (on the final day of the league season) when we were 1-0 down and came back to win on a Sunday.
“We beat Newcastle at Wembley the next Saturday, went to Barcelona the next day and, before you know it, that (European final) was on top of us on Wednesday.
“We were missing our two best players (Keane and Paul Scholes) in midfield but we still got through it to win all three trophies, and that shows you the resilience.
“We were in a tough Champions League group with Bayern Munich and Barcelona and, funnily enough, Inter are the same (this year). So hopefully the omens are good .... I’m clinging onto anything now!”.
City have had a week-long gap between their final league game to today’s Wembley showdown, and will again to their European decider.
“They have a clear run at it and these things count for a lot,” added Irwin.
Great
And assessing City’s treble credentials, he contin