5 days Ago By Adam Lacey
Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim insisted there were no disciplinary issues behind his decision to leave both Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho out of his squad for Sunday’s Manchester derby. Eyebrows were raised when both forwards were omitted from the 20-man matchday squad at the Etihad Stadium, although the decision was ultimately vindicated as a late double saw United stun City to win 2-1. Rashford played 56 minutes of Thursday’s 2-1 Europa League comeback win against Viktoria Plzen, where Garnacho was introduced as an 81st-minute substitute.
But rather than feature against neighbours City in the Premier League on Sunday, the pair instead trained at the team’s training ground on Sunday morning. ‘For me what is important is the performance in training, the performance in game, the way you dress, the way you eat, the way you engage with team-mates and push team-mates. ‘Everything is important in our context, 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 our standards really high, and for that they have to fight for their place in their team.
‘Today we proved we can leave anybody out of the squad and you can manage to win if you play together.’ Asked about his decision after the match, Amorim said: ‘It is important to say it was not a disciplinary thing. Next week, next game, new life and they are fighting for the places.
Amorim said he would be honest if there had been a disciplinary problem with any of his players. ‘There are small details, there are some things that need to change,’ Amorim added. ‘It is not a disciplinary thing, it’s the performance in training and in game and then I have to choose players.
‘Jonny Evans did everything right and he was also at home. He is very important for us. If it was disciplinary I will say that here and it will be a bigger problem, but it was not that.
‘Today they worked hard, they trained really hard. It’s a new week, new life, let’s see for the next one.’ A United source said Garnacho’s absence has nothing do with allegations about team leaks.
Asked about those apparent leaks, Amorim said: ‘I know that story but I don’t know. I think it’s impossible to fix nowadays because there are a lot of people in the club, players talk with agents, you can talk with a friend, it’s hard to know. ‘It’s not a good thing but let’s move on to the next one and if they find the next starting XI.
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