Ruben Amorim demands Man United ‘change the standards’ after ‘big boys’ Marcus Rashford and Casemiro were allowed to fly on glitzy trips to the US, which Gary Neville dubbed ‘unprofessional’

New Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has defended Marcus Rashford and Casemiro after the pair were criticised for jetting to the United States during the international break while demanding a change of standards.  

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. 

Ruben Amorim defended Marcus Rashford and Casemiro but called for a change of standards

Rashford flew to New York to watch basketball at Madison Square Gardens last Friday

‘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 said 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 have to change in these standards.’

‘In your time you had a great leadership at the club, very strong and the culture was already here when you start. So it was a long time with the same identity, the same way of seeing things and you felt that even if you do that, your team-mates will talk to you.

‘Now it’s a different point, you have to acknowledge that. This must be started in the club, with us. We are responsible in that area. We cannot in this time put that of Rash or Casa. They receive the information five days off, do what you like. We as a club have to set better standards and we will try to do that.’ 

Meanwhile, United’s Casemiro shared photos of he and his family at Disney World in Orlando

Gary Neville questioned the professionalism of Rashford and Casemiro for their US trips

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.’

Contrary to Neville’s comments, Rashford did not travel to Portland and instead only went to New York over the international break, which from Manchester constitutes a roughly a seven-hour flight and thus a four-hour time difference.

Rashford and Casemiro were not the only Manchester United stars to jet across the world during the international break, with £86million signing Antony returning to his homeland Brazil for the first time since Ten Hag’s sacking.

Amorim, who officially took charge at Old Trafford last week, will want to get off to a fast start at the club against Ipswich on Sunday, especially given Ruud van Nistelrooy went undefeated during his interim spell at the helm.

United had slipped to 14th in the Premier League prior to Ten Hag’s departure and have climbed up one place since ahead of Sunday’s trip to Portman Road.