Manchester United's new head coach Ruben Amorim has criticised the decision to allow Marcus Rashford and Casemiro to jet off to the United States over the international break. The pair, who were not called up for their national teams, were granted a breather from Carrington duties.
Rashford was seen enjoying a basketball game in New York, while Casemiro took his family to Disney. Gary Neville has since lambasted the duo, suggesting that taking a holiday stateside – risking potential jet lag – was an unwise decision given the club's current circumstances on the field.
In a candid reflection, Neville cited a former teammate's advice during hard times. "There was a player I used to play with that used to say, when times were tough that basically you go down to that extra level of detail in making sure everything's perfect," he said on It's Called Soccer!
"You take the butter off your toast, you literally make sure you're absolutely looking at every single 1 per cent of detail you could. So I used to think standing in that tunnel, when going through a difficult time, I'd think: 'Right I've got to work my way out of this, I've got to be absolutely perfect.'.
"Every drink, every sleep, every training session, every stretch, has just got to be absolutely perfect. So would I think the most relaxing way to spend your time, whether you're Casemiro, and I'll bring him into it, Casemiro is 30 odd years of age, Marcus Rashford is in his 20s, travelling 10 or 11 hours and I, to be fair, have done that quite a few times in the last few months, you get a bit of jet lag going to the US.
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"So, a three, four-day jet lag-based trip, when you've got basically the idea of training and making sure you're fit, I don't personally think it's the right choice of distance and choice of destination."
After meeting Amorim for the first time this week for a Sky Sports interview, Neville posed the question surrounding the United duo's trips and whether they were right to do them.
"I think the main question here is that us, as a club, have to set the standards and have to manage that," Amorim responded. "It is my decision if they can have five days [off], three days or three days to rest, you cannot fly.
"This is something that us, as a club, have to decide."
When asked by Neville if he would have banned Rashford and Casemiro from going to America, Amorim added: "For me? Yes for sure.
"We cannot put this on the players. They [United] told them they can have five days off so they can fly anywhere because nobody at the club says you cannot fly."
INEOS is likely to have given the go-ahead for Rashford and Casemiro to head to America, in the absence of Erik ten Hag and Amorim.
