Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has revealed that he is not under pressure from the club’s board to play Marcus Rashford, who has been left out of the team in the last three games.
The Portuguese manager admitted that Rashford was dropped due to his poor performances in training, and the English star expressed his desire to seek a new challenge in an interview last week.
There have been rumours on social media that Amorim’s decision to drop Rashford was influenced by the new ownership led by Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
The former Sporting Lisbon said the decision to drop Rashford was taken by him with no internal influence from the ownership.
He said: “Yeah, it’s my decision. He wants to play, he’s trying. It’s my decision. Only my decision. I spoke with a lot of players individually, during training, so I try to do things and I am doing things my way and that is the only way I know. If I don’t do that, I will lose myself, and I will not lose myself, I know what I am doing.
“When I feel that is the right moment, I will change something. Until then, I will continue to think about what is best for the team. I speak with him every day, not about the interview, about the performance.”
He also revealed that the situation is not a distraction for the club despite losing two consecutive games against Tottenham and Bournemouth.
Amorim said: “I don’t think so. Not for me. Not for the other players. Because everybody is there every day during training, so they understand, and that is the key point.
“For the media and for the other people, I cannot control that, but I am really focused and they know. I am so clear in my message, everybody in Carrington knows what I’m talking about and what I want from Marcus and everybody else, so it’s not a distraction for us. Maybe it is for the media but that is not my concern.
Amorim demanded improvement from Rashford to regain his place in the team.
He said: “Like any other player, the best that they can be. If you have big talent: big performance, big responsibility, big engagement, like push forward everybody in this moment.
“And some guys have a big responsibility here because they are here for a long time. So this is maybe one of the lowest moments in our club, so we have to face it and be strong in this moment, that’s what I want for every player on the team.”
The Red Devils will spend Christmas Day at the bottom of the league table for the first time since 1989 after losing three of their six Premier League games under Amorim.
He added: “We know we cannot let this become normal. I understand it’s a tough moment and it’s on me. We cannot think about that, we just have to think about improving, to understand the context and not focus on what happened in the past, but see what we can do so it doesn’t happen again.”
According to reports in England, Sir Jim Ratcliffe and other members of the board have decided to allow Amorim decide what happens next with Rashford.
The Red Devils are languishing in the 13th position on the Premier League log with 22 points from 17 games, and they will return to action against fellow strugglers Wolves on Thursday at the Molineux Stadium.
No Pressure To Play Rashford – Amorim is first published on The Whistler Newspaper