Ruben Amorim has not been under any pressure from the Man Utd hierarchy to leave Marcus Rashford out of his side, according to reports.
The Red Devils boss decided to leave Rashford out of their 2-1 win over arch-rivals Man City in the Manchester Derby nine days ago, while Alejandro Garnacho also missed that game.
But Rashford has now been left out the two following games as well with Amorim pointing to “selection” as the reason for leaving the Man Utd forward out of his squad for their matches against Tottenham in the Carabao Cup and Bournemouth in the Premier League.
After being left out of their clash with Man City, Rashford told journalist Henry Winter that he is ready for a “new challenge” away from Old Trafford.
Man Utd head coach Amorim insists he will “forget the interview now” and move on by judging Rashford solely on his performances on the pitch.
Amorim told Sky Sports: “It is a hard situation. I understand that these players have a lot of people around them, making choices that are not the first idea from the player.
“I am always here to help Marcus as another player. I have to do what I have to do. They chose to do the interview as it is not just Marcus. I understand that.
“As a coach I focus on performance and the way you train. The rest, it is better for me and the club to deal with that when the time comes.
“At the moment I focus on improving Marcus and we need a talented guy like Marcus. I forget the interview now and see what I see on the pitch.”
And the Daily Star insist that Amorim is ‘under no pressure from club bosses to leave’ Rashford out of the starting XI and ‘United chiefs including co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and chief executive Omar Barrada have refused to get involved in team selection’.
The report adds:
‘It’s understood Amorim has been left to deal with Rashford, and has refused to involve him due to poor performances in training. And Amorim has told Rashford he will not recall him to the squad until his attitude improves.
‘The scenario is now in danger of turning toxic, as United wrestle with the dilemma of what to do with one of their most high-profile and highest paid stars. Amorim will not want to keep someone who is not contributing to the squad.’
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Sky Sports reporter Melissa Reddy has not been impressed by the way Rashford has been conducting himself at Man Utd.
Reddy said: “I don’t think he’s conducting himself well, not just because of the timing of that interview.
“I think the way fans want to see how committed you are to your club and to your responsibilities is what you do on the pitch, is how you deal with training sessions, how you interact with your team-mates and how you basically view yourself as a representative of any football club.
“In Marcus Rashford’s case, this is his boyhood club Manchester United, so it should mean more.
“Yet where people are hearing about Rashford’s commitment, or his love for the club, and where it’s being illustrated is on Twitter – him coming out with statements, or that interview with Henry Winter where he talks about how much he loves the club.
“There was that Players’ Tribune article about ‘don’t ever question my commitment to United’. And that’s amid him continuously breaking the rules at the club.
“So how are we not allowed to question your commitment, where we’re seeing that you are calling in ill to training when actually you’ve been on nights out in Belfast? You’re across two managers now and still not conducting yourself in a good manner.
“And the timing of that interview is disappointing because the manager has made a statement, he has dropped Rashford and [Alejandro] Garnacho.
“The next day they actually train very well, so immediately Amorim is thinking, ‘OK, this situation has been handled well’. Rashford is then ill on the Monday so doesn’t train, and then does this interview on the Tuesday where he says he’s ready for a new challenge.
“Now, you’d think if this club means so much to you, if this is all you want and this is all you care about, you actually want to prove to your manager that this is everything.
“You’ve just got here, this is my life, this is my soul, this is my heart. And yet actually what he’s done is said, ‘no, I’m done with it, I want to go elsewhere’.”
