Marcus Rashford transfer: Man Utd boss Ruben Amorim says he would rather bench goalkeeping coach Jorge Vital than England striker | Football news
Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has publicly condemned Marcus Rashford – claiming he would rather bench the club’s goalkeeping coach than the striker for his efforts.
Rashford was once again left out of United’s matchday squad for the 1-0 win over Fulham, in which Amorim’s side scored from a deflected shot from Lisandro Martinez – their only shot on target.
The England international has not been in United’s Premier League squad for nearly two months and Amorim says Rashford does not give the attitude of someone who “does his best every day”.
With a week to go until the January transfer window closes, Amorim said “if things don’t change, I won’t change” regarding Rashford’s status in the United squad.
“It’s always the same reason: training, the way a footballer should work in life. It’s every day, every detail,” Amorim said at his post-match press conference at Craven Cottage.
“If things don’t change, I won’t change. It’s the same situation for every player, if you do your best and correctly, we can use every player.
“You can see on the bench, we lack a bit of pace on the bench. But I would put [Man Utd goalkeeper coach Jorge] Vital before a player who doesn’t give his maximum every day.”
United’s goalkeeping coach Vital, who joined Amorim from Sporting CP to Old Trafford in November, is 63 years old.
Amorim: Man Utd lack pace and power up front, we have problems scoring goals
Amorim’s comments about Rashford came after the United boss admitted his side are still struggling to score goals this season – and that his side lack “pace and power up front”.
At Craven Cottage on Sunday, United had to wait 42 minutes for their first shot on goal – a tame half-chances from Matthijs de Ligt – and also failed to score from open play in the first half for the 12th successive Premier League game.
With Rasmus Hojlund taken off close to an hour after making little impact and his replacement Joshua Zirkzee touching the ball just eight times in the remaining half an hour, Amorim admits there is room for improvement in his forward line.
Asked if scoring was a problem for his team, Amorim said TNT Sports: “I think so. And in the second half we wanted to change something, we lack rhythm and power forward.
“But it is what it is. We have to have ball creators, more chances. We struggle a lot with these details. But a win helps a lot to improve.”
Asked if he expected more help from the remaining week of the transfer window, Amorim replied: “We have to be careful. Even the rules here, we have to follow the rules.
“We are [transfer] mistakes in the past, we can’t do it now. We are focused on improving the team, we will see. Let’s focus on the players we have and focus on the next game.”
