The Red Devils didn't miss the academy graduate in the derby, and there's no sense prolonging an unhappy marriage for another six months
"It doesn't look good for him," Roy Keane told after seeing Ruben Amorim leave Marcus Rashford out of his squad for Manchester United's trip to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday. "I think a move for Marcus would suit the player. He hasn't been great recently. He (Amorim) has obviously seen something he doesn't like."
To make matters worse for Rashford, United pulled off a stunning 2-1 victory over Manchester City without him, as Amad Diallo solidified his status as the best winger at the club. The dazzling Ivorian won the penalty that Bruno Fernandes converted to level the scoreline, before producing a brilliant run and finish to complete a remarkable late comeback for the visitors, who are now within sight of the Champions League places again.
Amorim's ruthless decision to drop Rashford paid off. To say the 27-year-old "hasn't been great recently" is actually a massive understatement, and a transfer away would also "suit" United, ideally at the earliest possible opportunity.
Rashford is not a beloved academy product anymore, he's a waste of space, and doesn't deserve to be part of Amorim's revolution at Old Trafford.
GettyRashford will keep letting Amorim down
When pressed on his reasoning for dropping Rashford, and erratic Argentine forward Alejandro Garnacho, before kick-off at the Etihad, Amorim said to : "I pay attention to everything, the way you eat, the way you put your clothes to go to a game. Everything. I make my evaluation and then I decide."
The suggestion is clear: both men have fallen short of the manager's standards for commitment and general effort in some way. If it was just a tactical call, or based purely on current form, they would have at least taken a place among the substitutes.
Amorim was even stronger on Rashford's case after the game, as he referred to the extreme cost-cutting measures across all levels of the club taken by INEOS chairman Sir Jim Ratcliffe over the past few months. "You understand for so long we try something with Rash, it doesn't work," he admitted to the media. "Let's continue to do the same thing or try something different? It's as simple as that. They have to work hard. Today they trained really hard. It was not a disciplinary thing. Next week, next game, new life… When we want to change a lot of things, when people in the club are losing their jobs, they have to fight for their place in the team."
Amorim is not the first coach to demand more "fight" from Rashford. He will continue to let the Portuguese tactician down, just as he did Erik ten Hag, Ralf Rangnick, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Jose Mourinho. Rashford has used up all of his nine lives at this point, and the constant speculation over his mentality is just serving as a distracting sideshow.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportStinking attitude
United made a serious mistake by handing Rashford a new five-year contract in July 2023, which reportedly made him the highest earner in the squad on £325,000 per week. He was prematurely rewarded for reaching the 30-goal mark for the first time in his career in 2022-23, and has since completely taken his eye off the ball, scoring just 15 times in 66 appearances across the last two seasons.
The club was forced to discipline Rashford in January as he reported ill for training after being spotted out partying for two nights in Belfast, which should have been a wake-up call, but his attitude has only worsened. Rashford has stopped playing for the United badge, having seemingly forgotten the core institutional values he was taught when making his way through the youth ranks.
He trudges through games with a disinterested look on his face and his shoulders slacked, acting as if perspiring for the collective cause is beneath him. The new manager bounce provided by Amorim briefly sparked Rashford into life as he scored three goals in his first two games under the ex-Sporting CP boss, but he's quickly reverted to his usual ways.
Rashford was hooked after just 56 minutes in his last outing against Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League, which was an act of mercy from Amorim. The England international's body language was painful to watch once again; he showed no real inclination to press or make any positive runs in behind the defence and carelessly gave the ball away on 11 occasions, with United improving considerably after his withdrawal.
Getty Images Sport'No place for you in the club'
Gary Neville was among those to back Amorim's decision to drop Rashford and Garnacho, both of whom have failed to heed the manager's "run like mad dogs" warning in recent matches. "He's giving us clues, in fact, emphatic clues, about the last few days that they're moping and not doing their bit around the training ground," the United legend said on . "It's standards in training and he's thought 'no, I'm not having it, I'm not accepting it'. Good on him. For far too long we've seen players mope around that pitch and still continue to get a game or be on the bench. No. It's got to be non-negotiable. I don't care who you are, whether you're Andrei Kanchelskis or Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, Nani, whoever you are as a wide player at Manchester United you've got to run this way [forward] as fast as you can and run that way [backwards] as fast as you can. If they don't do that there is no place for you in the club, there is no place for you in the team."
Garnacho isn't a complete lost cause; he's still only 20 and has the potential to be a key player for United once he matures. But Rashford has been stuck in this pattern for the best part of nine years.
Rashford is simply not good enough to get away with this kind of behaviour. And because the Red Devils have let him have his way for so long, even the fans have turned on him. It's a damning indictment of how badly the club has been run over the past decade that Amorim is the first man to really bring the hammer down on Rashford, and the next step is to remove him from the picture entirely.
Getty Images SportPut to shame by Maguire & Amad
Selling Rashford would free up resources for United to bolster their attacking options in 2025, and tie far more important players down to new contracts. Amad Diallo and Harry Maguire are at the top of that list, with both men fast approaching the final six months of their respective deals.
Amad has quickly become the face of Amorim's project at Old Trafford, which David Beckham alluded to when posting an image of the 22-year-old kissing the United badge after his winning goal on Sunday. “And the rebuild begins, big team win with players who wanna wear this jersey,” the iconic former Red Devils winger wrote on .
Amorim has given Amad the platform to showcase his unique qualities, and he's spectacularly justified the manager's faith with five goal contributions in his last five Premier League appearances. The Ivory Coast international could easily have left when he wasn't getting a look-in under Ten Hag, but he never gave up, and those incredible powers of resolve are now paying dividends.
Maguire is enjoying a similar resurgence, with Amorim describing his performance against City as "perfect". The towering defender had Erling Haaland in his pocket for the full 90 minutes and looked right at home in the middle of United's back three with Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martinez flanking him.
Just over a year ago, Maguire was stripped of the captaincy and appeared to have no future at the club, but he confirmed after the derby that "positive" extension talks have already taken place. Maguire and Amad's passion and perseverance puts Rashford to shame. They fully understand and embrace the responsibility that comes with being a United player, while Rashford uses it as merely a symbol of status.
