There was “no sign” of Marcus Rashford amid the travelling squad for Manchester United as the Red Devils head to London for tomorrow night’s clash against Tottenham Hotspur in the Carabao Cup, according to the Manchester Evening News.
Samuel Luckhurst (ManUtdMEN) reveals Rashford was “absent” from the ensemble of United players travelling to the capital as questions over the 27-year-old’s future at Old Trafford continue to swirl following his blockbuster interview yesterday.
Rashford was omitted from the matchday squad for the Manchester Derby on the weekend, alongside fellow winger Alejandro Garnacho, with head coach Ruben Amorim explaining his decision to drop the pair in his post-match interview following the dramatic 2-1 win.
Amorim revealed: “It is important to say why [Rashford and Garnacho were dropped], it was not a disciplinary thing. Next week, next game new life, they are fighting for their places.”
“But for me it is important the performance in training, the performance in games, the way you dress, the way you eat, they way you engage with your teammates, the way you push your team-mates. Everything is important in our context in 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.
“For that, they have to fight for their place in the team and today the team we proved we can leave anyone outside the squad and manage to win if you play together.”
“I’m going to say again it was not a disciplinary thing. It’s the small details. You can see the games like I see, there are some things that have to change. But it is a new life, it’s not a disciplinary thing, it’s the performance in training, the performance in game and then I have to change, to choose players.
“If it was disciplinary, I would say that here and it will be a bigger problem but it was not that. It was just that I want to improve my players and you understand that for so long, for example with Rash, we tried a thing and it doesn’t work. Let’s continue to do the same thing or try something different?”
“So it’s as simple as that. If they train well with the talent they have we will be so much better with them. Both of them. But they have to work hard, they do, today they trained really hard so it’s a good thing. New week, new life, let’s see the next one.”
And while Garnacho has been confirmed to have been reinstated into the squad for tomorrow night’s quarter final at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, Rashford’s absence will continue, Luckhurst reveals.
Alejandro Garnacho travelling with the #mufc squad to Tottenham. No sign of Marcus Rashford as squad left Manchester https://t.co/XAv0M8bJRS
— Samuel Luckhurst (@samuelluckhurst) December 18, 2024
Tweet: “Alejandro Garnacho travelling with the #mufc squad to Tottenham. No sign of Marcus Rashford as squad left Manchester.”
Speaking this morning about the game and the prospect of the two wingers being recalled, Amorim stated, “We have one more training. But it’s the same situation of all the other players. If they train well then I have to make a choice. We will see see at the end of training.”
“Of course [I expect a reaction]. I expect the best of each player every day so we will see after training.”
Yesterday, journalist Henry Winter released an interview with Rashford revealing the 27-year-old was open to a departure from his boyhood club as he was “ready for a new challenge“.
And while there was a refreshing honesty to Rashford’s words, it appears unlikely they constitute the “reaction” his new head coach would have been demanding following last weekend’s dropping. Amorim did stress in today’s press conference that United were “better with Marcus Rashford“, but the fact the winger has again not been included in the matchday squad underlines this further.
In a more positive update, Noussair Mazraoui, who sustained a knock in the win over City on Sunday and was considered a risk, has “recovered” and travelled with his teammates to London.
The confirmed United squad is:
Onana, Bayindir, Heaton, Dalot, Mazraoui, Yoro, De Ligt, Maguire, Lindelof, Evans, Martinez, Malacia, Ugarte, Casemiro, Fernandes, Eriksen, Mainoo, Antony, Garnacho, Zirkzee, Hojlund, Amad
Feature image Michael Regan via Getty Images
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Darragh Fox
Darragh is a writer for The Peoples Person who spent three years as a history graduate slowly realising football was by far the most interesting thing to write about.
