Following the news Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford has been loaned out to Aston Villa over the weekend, one former Red Devils player said it was inevitable.
Since being appointed as new United coach in November, Ruben Amorim has been outspoken about the poor performance of his team and has specifically criticised Rashford’s attitude and commitment.
In fact, Rashford last featured for United on December 12 as the rumours began to swirl about his future at the club.
Speculation had been that the 27-year-old will be moving away from United, since he had fallen out of favour since Amorim’s arrival at the club in November.
Prickly press conference
Late last month, in what should have been a relatively upbeat post-match press conference with Amorim after his side beat Fulham 1-0 away from home in the Premier League, the subject quickly turned to why Rashford hadn’t appeared for the club in the last 11 matches.
Not satisfied with saying Rashford wasn’t doing enough in training, Amorim went on to say he’d rather play his 63-year-old goalkeeper coach Jorge Vital before another squad member who is not committed.
“I will put Vital on before I put a player that doesn’t give the maximum. I will not change in that department,” said Amorim.
Former United defender Danny Higginbotham, who spent three years with the club from 1997 to 2000 before making his name at other English sides like Derby County, Southampton and Stoke, said he could understand the thinking of Amorim.
Force majeure
“I don’t know the inside story on what’s going on with Marcus. But I can take a good guess, an educated guess. Amorim will have come in with certain standards. Those will be standards that he’ll expect everyone to adhere to,” Higginbotham told SportsBoom.com.
“He’ll want to let people know he’s the leader, that he’s in charge and that’s the end of it. If anyone slips below those standards then he’s going to want to hammer home that message in the most forceful way possible because he has to.
Higginbotham said Rashford would have been the ideal candidate for Amorim to set the tone.
“Is there anyone bigger to take on at United than Marcus? He’s certainly one of the best paid players in the league and, with his profile, doing that is certainly going to make an impact - a big one.
“It’s unfortunate for Marcus but, looking in, I think Amorim has made an example of him for that reason.”
“It’s unfortunate for Marcus but, looking in, I think Amorim has made an example of him for that reason.”