Ruben Amorim has issued a warning to any Manchester United player who does not meet his standards, claiming he “pays attention to everything” after Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho were left out of his Manchester derby squad.
There were rumors on Saturday night that Manchester United’s starting lineup against Manchester City had been leaked long before the official publication.
The squad making the rounds on social media turned out to be spot on, with Garnacho and Rashford missing out on the starting line-up.
Amorim would likely have been far from pleased to learn that his starting lineup was in the public domain a day before the match – but there is no suggestion that Rashford or Garnacho were responsible for the leak.
Speaking to Sky Sports before the match, Amorim said: “We are trying to evaluate everything, the training performance, the match performance, the interaction with their teammates, and pushing their teammates up.
“Everything is at stake when we analyze and try to select players. This is my choice. Simple.
“I don’t want to send a message, it’s just an evaluation and they know it. The players are really smart. Everyone understands my decision and I have to make a choice. It’s a simple choice.”
“Of course the context is difficult because we have to win matches and we have a difficult situation now. I care about everything, the way you eat, the way you dress to go to the match. Everything. I make my assessment. And then I decide.
“There are calls after the last training. They are fine. They trained this morning (Sunday) and I was there. They trained really well.”
The starting lineup for the Man City vs. Manchester United match
Man City: Ederson, Walker, Dias, Gvardiol, Gundogan, Silva, Doku, De Bruyne, Foden, Nunes, Haaland.
Submarines: Ortega, Stones, Kovacic, Grealish, Savio, Simpson-Bossey, O’Reilly, Makati, Mbama.
Man United: Onana, De Ligt, Maguire, Martinez, Mazraoui, Ugarte, Fernandes, Dalot, Diallo, Hoglund, Mount.
Submarines: Bender, Lindelof, Zirkzee, Melcia, Eriksen, Euro, Casemiro, Anthony, Maino.
Verdict: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)
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