Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has again called out Marcus Rashford, telling reporters that the forward “has to change” if he is to force his way back into the matchday squad.
Amorim has excluded Rashford from the team for 11 games in a row since a 2-1 win over Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League on Dec. 12, starting with the Manchester derby victory against Manchester City.
After United’s 1-0 win over Fulham on Sunday, Amorim said he would rather pick 63-year-old goalkeeper coach Jorge Vital than Rashford as a result of continuing concerns over the 27-year-old’s standards.
“Our team, you can look at our team and imagine the profile of the players. Now imagine a talent like Rashford,” Amorim told a news conference on Wednesday. “Our team should be so much better with Rashford. But this Rashford, he has to change.
“If he changes, we are more than welcome to put a talent like Rashford [in the squad]. And we need it. But in this moment, I think it’s really clear that we have to set some standards. We are waiting for Marcus, if he wants [to play] really really bad.”
The Portuguese coach went on to deny that there is any personal rift between himself and the player, who said in December that he was “ready for a new challenge” after his omission for the City clash.
“That’s the only thing. You tried to make like something personally, I have nothing against Marcus,” he said. “I just have to make the same rules for everybody and that for me it’s so simple, it’s always the same answer.”
Rashford continues to be linked with a move away from Old Trafford, with ESPN reporting last week that his representatives held face-to-face talks with Barcelona about a potential move before the transfer deadline.
United play Romania’s FCSB on Thursday looking to cement their place in the Europa League round of 16 with a top-eight finish in the league phase.
