- Marcus Rashford watched an NBA game at Madison Square Gardens last Friday
- Meanwhile, United star Casemiro went to Disney World in Orlando with his family
- Will Ruben Amorim be Man United’s saviour? LISTEN NOW: It’s All Kicking Off! Available wherever you get your podcasts. Episodes every Monday and Thursday
New Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has come to defence of Marcus Rashford and Casemiro after the pair were criticised for jetting to the United States during the international break.
Rashford, who once again was not selected by Lee Carsley for England’s final Nations League matches last week, enjoyed his Three Lions exile by travelling stateside to watch an NBA game between New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets at Madison Square Garden last Friday.
Meanwhile, Casemiro travelled to Orlando over the international break and posted photos of him and his family at Disney World on Instagram.
Gary Neville was among those who questioned the professionalism of the two players and he asked Amorim for this thoughts on the situation in an interview on Sky Sports.
‘You mention professionalism, I have to ask you about this because I’ve made a comment about Casemiro and Marcus Rashford travelling to America in their few days off,’ Neville told the Portuguese.
‘It was just me thinking as a former united player, you’ve got a few days off the club are 13th in the league, the manager has just been sacked, it’s a challenging part of the season and the new manager is about to come in.
‘That focus and that preparation, every little detail is really important. I said I don’t think I would have chosen that trip to go to America with the time difference. are you comfortable with it?
Amorim responded: ‘the first thing is it was five days off. The second thing is they received information of five days off and they are big boys, they have kids so they decide what to do.
‘The main question here is the club have to set the standard and manage that. it’s my decision if they can have five days as a coach, or three days. Or is three days to rest, you cannot fly. This is something the club has to decide.
‘Would you have managed it differently?’ Neville asked.
‘Yes, for sure. But you cannot put this on the players. they told them they have five days off so they can fly anywhere. Nobody in the club says they cannot fly. they have to live their lives because they are grown men and they have to decide these things. Us as a club has to change in these standards.’
Neville made headlines with his comments about Rashford and Casemiro on Thursday.
‘The professionalism, looking after your body and making sure you’re best prepared for the next training session is critical to every decision you make during the season,’ Neville said on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet.
‘He has got a mental break, he’s got to get away and has got to rest with friends – then you talk about the choice of venue, how far do you fly, what’s the time difference, is that going to give a jet lag issue, is that going to give a stiffness issue from being on a flight for 12 hours?
‘This is on Casemiro more than Rashford but if I’m 30 years old and I’m looking after my body – and he’s won five Champions Leagues and is an unbelievable player, but if he was away with Brazil for 10 days, we would say he would struggle this weekend because he’s been away.
‘They have chosen that international break. If you are talking about the minor details in being as professional as you can be and as prepared you can be for a training session on a Monday night, that isn’t the best choice of venue.’