Ruben Amorim made some bold calls to leave both Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho out of the squad vs Manchester City and has now clarified why the pair were omitted
Ruben Amorim has offered fresh insight into Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho’s Manchester derby absence.
The Red Devils pair were surprise omissions for the weekend’s clash with Manchester City. Asked why they were left out, the Portuguese coach mentioned “training performance, game performances and engagement with team-mates” as potential reasons.
And those comments have led Gary Neville to suggest that Amorim has dropped “emphatic clues” about the standards he sets at Old Trafford, with both Garnacho and Rashford failing to meet those. And it appears that United did not miss either of them having secured a stunning 2-1 comeback victory against their fierce rivals.
Following the final whistle, Amorim has again clarified why the pair were left out and assured that it was not due to a disciplinary issue. And he did not rule out the pair earning a recall for Thursday evening’s Carabao Cup quarter-final clash with Tottenham.
He said: “It’s important to say it was not a disciplinary thing. If it was disciplinary, I would say that here and it would be a bigger problem, but it was not that.
“Next week, next game, a new life. But for me it’s important, the performance in training, the performance in game, the way you dress, the way you eat, the way you engage with team-mates – everything is important at the beginning of something when we want to change a lot of things.
“When people in our club are losing their jobs, we have to put the standards really high and for that they have to fight for a place in the team. Today the team proved we can leave anyone out of the squad and manage to win if you play together. If they train well, with the talent they have, we will be so much better with them. But they have to work hard.”
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While Rashford was left out of the squad for the Manchester derby, he still sent a message to his teammates at the full time whistle. The academy graduate took to social media with a picture of him tuning into the game, particularly the Red Devils’ post-match celebrations.
Alongside the post, he shared a caption reading: “Yesssssss! Love it lads,” complete with heart emojis. Away from Neville, his former United teammate Roy Keane also gave his thoughts on the situation and claimed a move away from Old Trafford might be best for Rashford.
“A move for Marcus [Rashford] would suit the player – a new challenge for him,” the Irishman said. “He’s been there a long time. When you’re at a big club and your attitude is not right – and it hasn’t been great recently – sometimes it’s good to part ways.”
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