Marcus Rashford: Truth behind Amorim’s ‘clothes’ and ‘lifestyle’ comments

Ruben Amorim’s comments on Marcus Rashford’s clothes and dress sense caught light after the Manchester United manager dropped the forward for Sunday’s derby against Manchester City.

Rashford and team-mate Alejandro Garnacho were omitted from the Red Devils squad as they claimed a stunning 2-1 win over the defending Premier League champions at the Etihad Stadium.

Following the game comments the Portuguese head coach made about the England international’s clothing caught light on social media as he explained his decision to drop the 27-year-old.

But Amorim’s reasoning behind dropping Rashford was far more nuanced than these viral tweets suggested.

READ MORE: Fabrizio Romano reveals TRUTH as Amorim axes Garnacho and Rashford

“It’s important to say why: was not a disciplinary thing,” Amorim explained. “Next week, next game, new life, they are fighting for their places.

“When people in our club are losing their jobs we have to put the standards really high and for that they have to fight for a place in the team. And today the team proved we can leave anyone out of the squad and manage to win if you play together.”

Amorim continued: “If it was disciplinary, I would say that here and it will be a bigger problem but was not that. Sometimes I want to improve my players and you understand that for so long.

“We tried for example with Rashford, it does not work. Let’s continue to do the same thing or try something different? So it’s as simple as that. If they train well with the talent they have we will be so much better with them.”

What did Amorim say about Rashford’s clothes?

Amorim’s comments about Marcus Rashford’s clothes were largely a passing comment in the greater context of the explanation he was giving.

“But for me, it’s important: the performance in training, the performance in game, the way you dress, the way you eat, the way you engage with teammates, the way you push your team-mates, everything is important in our context in the beginning of something when we want to change a lot of things,” the Man Utd boss said.

He later added: “You can dress in a way that I don’t like, really don’t like, but it’s not a disciplinary thing. It’s the small details. But the performance in training and games, then I have to choose. That’s it. New week, new life. That’s it.”

Amorim’s message is clear: if Rashford is to return to his Man Utd team, he will have to live up to his standards.