Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim sprung a derby-day surprise when he left Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho out of his matchday squad to face Manchester City in the Premier League.
Rashford started Thursday’s 2-1 UEFA Europa League win at Viktoria Plzen but was substituted with United 1-0 down, while Argentina winger Garnacho made a nine-minute cameo from the bench.
Against a City team on a dire run of one win in 10 matches across all competitions who are grappling with significant defensive injuries and struggling against counter-attacks, each of Rashford and Garnacho felt like useful weapons to deploy against Pep Guardiola’s side.
But Amorim selected Amad Diallo and Mason Mount as his support attackers for two-goal midweek hero Rasmus Hojlund. The attacking options on the bench were Antony and Joshua Zirkzee.
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Why were Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho dropped for Manchester derby?
Asked for the reasons behind his attention-grabbing calls, Amorim told Sky Sports: “Selection. We try to evaluate everything: training, performance, game performance, engagement with the team-mates, pushing the team-mates up. Everything is on the line when we analyse and try to choose the players, so that is my selection. Simple.
“I don’t want to send a message. It’s simply an evaluation, and they know it. The players are really, really smart. Everybody understands my decision. I have to choose. It’s just simple selection.
“The context is difficult. We have to win games and we have a difficult situation. I pay attention to everything: the way you eat, the way you put on your clothes to go [to] the game. Everything. I make my evaluation, and then I have to decide. I have a lot of players to choose.”
Rashford scored a spectacular opening goal in this fixture last season before United subsided to a 3-1 defeat. It was his sixth in Manchester derbies. Garnacho netted in each of the past two encounters between the teams — United’s 2-1 win in this year’s FA Cup final and the 1-1 Community Shield draw that preceded a City victory on penalties.
On how the news was broken to Rashford and Garnacho, Amorim explained no special measures had been taken.
“It’s the same all the time,” he added. “There’s a communication after the last training, which goes to the WhatsApp. They receive the information.
“But they are alright. They had training this morning. I was there. Everything was okay. They trained really well.”
In his own interview with Sky, Guardiola confirmed midfielder Matheus Nunes would play as an emergency left-back — a prospect Garnacho and Rashford would no doubt have found appealing.
As it happened, Nunes was culpable in United’s astonishing late turnaround as Bruno Fernandes’ 88th-minute penalty and a 90th-minute winner from Amad Diallo snatched a 2-1 victory.
Speaking after the match, Amorim once again addressed the Rashford and Garnacho situation.
“It’s important to say why. It was not a disciplinary thing,” he said. “Next week, next game, a new life. They are fighting for their places. But for me it is important the performance in training, the performance in games, the way you dress, the way you eat, the way you engage with your teammates, the way you push your teammates.
“Everything is important in our context in the beginning 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. For that they have to fight for the place in the team and today the team proved we can leave anyone outside the squad and manage to win if we play together.”
