Man United Boss Rúben Amorim Explains Decision To OMIT Rashford And Garnacho From His Squad For The Crucial Manchester Derby.

• Manchester United's head coach Ruben Amorim explain his decision of dropping Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho away from the 20-player matchday squad for the crucial Manchester derby game at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

• From the minute the Portuguese manager was appointed as Man United boss, he had promised short-term pain for long-term success, but it seemed he took things a step too far by omitting the pairs not minding if it would come at the cost of his team getting a result at the Etihad.

 

Rashford had played 56 minutes of Thursday's 2-1 Europa League comeback win against Viktoria Plzen, while Garnacho was introduced as an 81st-minute substitute.

The decision from Amorim to drop both players seems to had been a brave or either foolish one from the start of the game as Man City took the lead after Josko Gvardiol headed past Onana in the 36th minute.

The reigning champions looked to be on course for a vital if uninspiring win before late goals from Bruno Fernandes and Amad Diallo saw the visiting Red Devil's snatch an unlikely 2-1 victory.

United had struggled to create many chances but leveled the score with just three minutes remaining when Matheus Nunes brought down Amad in the box, with Fernandes converting the penalty kick in the 88th minute.

And United then snatched all three points when Amad brought down Lisandro Martinez’s long ball and finished from the tightest of angles in the 90th minute.

The win moves United up to 12th in the Premier League table. City remain fifth, having now won only once in 11 games in all competitions.

Amad Diallo’s inspired performance in the comeback win showed exactly what Amorim expects from his players and Rashford and Garnacho should take note.

Both were fully fit, which makes Amorim’s protestations that Garnacho and Rashford were omitted purely for selection reasons hard to believe. If it was on form alone, both would have been on the bench.

To go into such a crucial clash with Joshua Zirkzee and Anthony as your best attacking options from the bench made the call all the more risky.

Amad is already Amorim’s posterboy for his high intensity, high press game he wants to instil at United. 

Amorim wants his players to press and run either with the ball or not but he has been flabbergasted with regularity at a lack of energy from his players thus far. Amad being the only exception.

While Rashford has enjoyable a minor resurgence in the goalscoring charts, Garnacho looks threatening every time he gets the ball, but all too often he cuts inside and goes for goal, at the expense of a better pass either side. Rashford looks ready to rekindle the fire once more one week, back to his disinterested self the next.

 

“It’s important to say why: was not a disciplinary thing,” Amorim said of the decision to leave Rashford and Garnacho training at Carrington instead of in his derby squad.

“I don't want to send a message (to the dressing room with this). It's simply an evaluation, and they know it.

“The players are really, really smart and so everybody understands my decision and I have to choose. It's just a simple selection.

“Of course the context is difficult - 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. The way you engage with teammates, the way you push your teammates.

“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 and for that they have to fight for a place in the team and today the team proved we can leave anyone out of the squad and manage to win if you play together.

“Next week, next game, new life. If they train well, they will compete for a place in the team, if they are better than the other guys in all the situations, inside and outside the pitch. I make my evaluation and then I decide.

“They are really talented and we need Garna and Rash a lot. It was not a disciplinary thing. It's just that we have to improve our standards. They will get used to this.”