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Ruben Amorim has said he would rather play his 63-year-old goalkeeper coach Jorge Vital in his Manchester United team than Marcus Rashford unless the out-of-favour forward starts to “give the maximum every day in training and in life.”
England international Rashford was left out of the team for the 11th successive game by United head coach Amorim during the 1-0 Premier League win at Fulham on Sunday.
The 27-year-old said last month that he was ready to seek a “new challenge” away from Old Trafford after being dropped for the 2-1 win against Manchester City at the Etihad on Dec. 15, but Rashford has so far been unable to find a new club during the January transfer window.
And despite strikers Rasmus Højlund and Joshua Zirkzee scoring just one goal between them since the beginning of December, Amorim said he would not restore Rashford to the team unless he changes his attitude.
“It’s the same, it’s always the same reason,” Amorim said when asked why he continued to overlook Rashford.
“The reason is the training, the way I see what footballers should do in training, in life, it’s every day, every detail.
“So if things don’t change, I will not change. It’s the same situation for every player. If you do the maximum, if you do the right things, we can use every player.
“And you can see it today on the bench, we miss a little bit of pace to go and change the game, move some pieces.
“But I prefer it like that. I will put Vital on before I put a player on that don’t give the maximum every day. So I will not change in that department.”
Amorim, who arrived from Portuguese champions Sporting CP in November, celebrates his 40th birthday on Monday.
But after the Fulham win, he said he feels much older after his brief stint at United.
“It’s not 40 … I’m 50!” he said. “After two months at Manchester United it’s 50. It’s a privilege to spend my 40th birthday here.
“That feeling of winning and three points is really important for us. You cannot see a great improvement in the team and that is a fact, but to win helps us to improve.
“We’ve had some lack of luck in some games. Today, was not the best match but we managed to win.
“The important thing is I have a clear idea of what I want to do. Sometimes I’m frustrated.
“We want to play a different style and we are going to play different style in the future.”