Manchester United faced rivals Manchester City at the Etihad on Sunday afternoon, with Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho both left out of the entire squad by Ruben Amorim
If Manchester United players didn’t realise who was in charge at Old Trafford these days, they do now.
Five words did the trick: “It is my selection. Simple.”
As United’s players got ready for Sunday’s Manchester derby at the Etihad Stadium, Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho weren’t with them. Instead, the attacking duo were at the club’s training ground, Carrington, doing extra work. Ruben Amorim oversaw their workout.
Their respective absences had been leaked on social media on Saturday night. For whatever reason, Amorim – although Mirror Football understands it is performance related – had decided neither was required to take on a Manchester City side in crisis. Both had featured during the Europa League win over Viktoria Plzen in midweek. Rashford started before being hooked before the hour mark, on a booking and walking dangerously close to the line that would see him sent off. Garnacho was a second half substitute.
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Neither man is injured. And their manager wasn’t looking to claim so either, as he made no bones about his decision minutes after official confirmation came through – insisting “everybody understands”.
“We try to evaluate everything training performance, game performances, engagement with teammates, push their teammates up,” declared Amorim to Sky Sports. “Everything is on the line when we analyse and try to choose the players. It is my selection. Simple.
“I don’t want to send a message it is simply an evaluation and they know it. The players are really, really smart. Everybody understands my decision and I have to choose. It is simple selection.
“Of course the context is difficult because we have to win games and we have a difficult situation now. I pay attention to everything, the way you eat, the way you put your clothes to go to a game. Everything. I make my evaluation and then I decide.
“There is a communication after the last training. They are alright. They had training this morning and I was there. They trained really well.”
That last part is an olive branch. An offer of a way back into the group, HIS group for two players who had been in every squad so far. He knows both are talented and capable. He also knows he needs them at their very best and doing what he demands to get United moving anywhere like near where he is being tasked with leading them.
But in not doing what many managers do in situations like this – claiming the ‘late injury’ – he has put the onus firmly on not just the attacking pair, but his team as a whole.
He wants them to do better. The rest is now up to them.
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