Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has revealed that he struggled to get through to Marcus Rashford, who was unable to adapt to the way he wanted to play and train.
Last Sunday, Rashford completed his loan move to Aston Villa. Rashford played in Amorim’s first six matches but was dropped for the Manchester derby in mid-December, after which the forward publicly stated he was ready for a new challenge away from Old Trafford.
Rashford did not play for United again after following his interview, with his last minutes for the side coming during the Europa League trip to Viktoria Plzen on December 12.
Ahead of United’s FA Cup meeting with Leicester City on Friday, Amorim opened up on Rashford and said, “I couldn’t put Marcus to see the way you’re supposed to play football and to train the way I see it.”
“And sometimes you have one player that is really good with one coach, and the same player with another coach is different. I just wish the best to Rashford and to Unai Emery, and they can connect because he’s a very good player.”
Asked whether Rashford voiced concerns over his football ideas, Amorim replied, “You know, like me, that it’s not the way that occurs. It’s something that you feel as a coach and as a player. It’s quite normal. It happened with a lot of coaches.”
“The important thing is that I’m here saying that was my decision, like Ty (Malacia) and Antony was my decision to do these loans, and to keep some players even without any transfers.”
On whether there is a chance that Rashford returns to United in the summer, Amorim answered, “Guys, in the summer… like we said before, we are fighting for our jobs until the summer. So, I am just focused on these games. Thankfully about Marcus he is in Birmingham now with Unai, so you can take these questions to another coach. We are just focused on our players at the moment.”
On United’s business in the January transfer window, Amorim admitted that his side have taken a risk by allowing three experienced players to leave and only replacing them with two young defenders – Patrick Dorgu and Ayden Heaven.
“Like I said in the first day, every player that came in to the team, I have to have the final word. That was really clear in the beginning. It’s also really clear. But we do it altogether, so I don’t point [out] just the names.”
“I define with Jason [Wilcox, the club’s technical director], the profile and then we have a scouting [department] that makes [does] the job. And that is the important thing because everybody has to decide.”
“It’s not just one thing that the coach today decides one thing, and then we change everything, and then it’s a completely different profile. We try to find the right players with the physicality for this league: young players, hungry players.”
“Sometimes, we cannot spend a lot of money with players. So it’s that kind of profile that we look for and Dorgu, he has all that ability to play in this team, to improve. Ayden – the same thing. He’s young, he’s left-footed, he’s a central defender, so it’s the right profile for us in the moment.”
Amorim also spoke about his decision to axe Ruud van Nistelrooy rather than retain him as part of his backroom staff.
During his time as interim boss, Van Nistelrooy repeatedly expressed a desire to stay at the club. However, Amorim opted against this idea, instead choosing to work with his own set of coaches from Sporting Lisbon.
Van Nistelrooy ended up being appointed Leicester boss and the two men will meet in the Old Trafford dugout on Friday.
Amorim said about this, “It was not a difficult situation because it was so clear for me, I just had to explain. I think it’s really simple and he understands. He is a man of football, he understands this situation. I have my team and my staff. I could keep Ruud because it was a good thing for me, a popular thing to do.”
“But I will not put Ruud in front of my guys, no matter what, and then I had to put a person like Ruud in the end on the hierarchy on my staff, and I think that was not fair on Ruud. To show respect to Ruud I was really clear with him and I explained that I have my team, I will continue the same way and I will not put a guy like Ruud, a legend of this club, in the end of the hierarchy in the staff.”
“So, it was the clear decision, really simple to explain and he took it like a class guy as he is.”
On the benefit of having somebody that knows United as well as Van Nistelrooy, Amorim pointed out, “The most important thing to have as a coach is a staff who understand the way you want to play, the standards you have.”
“When I say standards, I am not saying Ruud don’t have these standards – he was a legend of this club, he knows what it takes to win. But I prefer to work with a team that brought me here. It’s clear that is important for me, to explain the same thing to the players, so it was that decision.”
“I’m really comfortable and confident that I know how to win, no matter the club…of course we are losing and in the moment you need experienced guys, but I’m not lost, or I feel a of something in the staff. We just need to improve as a team.”
Both Van Nistelrooy and Erik ten Hag boast better records than Amorim this season.
However, according to the 40-year-old United head coach, the statistic doesn’t bother him too much.
“It’s not awkward and I think it’s normal. He knew the team, he worked with the team. I made some decisions that are really hard, to sometimes create problems, friction in the team.”
“Everything in the schedule that you don’t have time to train, to know the person. It’s really hard because I’m a really proud guy, but I take this normally. They were better than me in training this team, so I’m trying to help them to see the game the way I see, to improve the performance, and also the results.”
United vs. Leicester kicks off at 20:00 GMT.
Featured image Alex Livesey via Getty Images
Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social
