It was the second game in a row the 27-year-old had not been involved, having been absent from Sunday’s 2-1 Manchester derby win at the Etihad Stadium.
Rashford’s exclusion from the squad comes after Rashford admitted he was “ready for a new challenge” in an interview with journalist Henry Winter.
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Neville, Carragher and Redknapp discussed the situation live on Sky Sports on Thursday night – here’s what they said…
Neville: I suspect it’s getting quite difficult behind the scenes
Gary Neville:
“Maybe it’s been emotion over the last few months that has been trying to make me think this could all resolve itself and work itself out because I don’t think academy players who’ve got great talent like Marcus Rashford should ever leave the club.
“It’s one of those things that you want to see players that have been there since they were eight stay there forever. But, in the last few days, it’s got to a point whereby it may be the best for both parties for it to end – and maybe end quite quickly if it’s going to go down this route.
“Who knows? It could resolve itself. Ruben Amorim is saying the right things, but I suspect behind the scenes now it’s getting quite difficult.
“That’s two times he’s not been in the squad now. He’s one of Manchester United’s star players and has been for a number of years. Actions speak louder than words. While Amorim’s saying there’s a future, he’s also not having him in the squad, so things aren’t going very well at all.
“It’s sad because United had an unbelievable victory on Sunday and yet grab defeat from victory because the talking a few days after is all about this and not about actually the fact that Ruben Amorim’s got a sensational win under his belt.”
Carragher: Interview has put Man Utd in poor negotiating position
Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher:
“I feel like I’ve been talking about Marcus Rashford for the last week, and I’ve said before, he’s not that good of a player for the amount of time that we talk about him. Wayne Rooney was, David Beckham was, Cristiano Ronaldo was.
“I’m not for any player coming out and being critical of the club, but for Rashford to do that, to come out without the club having any knowledge of it and just announce he’s basically put in a transfer request or he wants to leave the club, that leaves the club in a really poor position in terms of negotiating his exit at some stage.
“If he really believes he wants to still be a Manchester United player and he still wants to have a great career, you don’t come out with a statement like that. You keep your mouth shut, you battle and you hope that you get a little chance.
“People keep talking about 30 goals, which is a really big figure. It’s not out of this world. We’re looking at some players now, they have better figures than that and he’s at Manchester United, a top team who dominates a lot of games.
“Manchester United should have a player every season scoring 30 goals. If they’re going to be playing 55 to 60 games, if you’ve got a player who can’t get 30 goals, he probably shouldn’t be at Manchester United.”
Redknapp: Rashford has done Amorim a favour by showing his cards early
Sky Sports’ Jamie Redknapp:
“In a way, he’s done Amorim a favour. He’s shown him his cards very early, which doesn’t always help from a negotiation point of view because if Marcus Rashford does leave, the fact that he wants to leave doesn’t help when you want to get money in.
“I don’t think Amorim came in with preconceived ideas. Rashford started against Ipswich in his first game, he scored and a few people were saying ‘well, maybe he can be the No 9 for Manchester United’.
“But what Amorim is privy to that we’re not is seeing him every day, seeing how he trains, seeing how he lives his life, seeing how he behaves in and around the dressing room, seeing what kind of role model he is to players – and he obviously doesn’t think that he’s the right kind of person that he wants around.
“You don’t leave a big player that you want in your team out of a derby match. It’s just not what you do. You want to get every good player alongside you. If he’s not buying into what Ruben Amorim wants, he’s surplus to requirements. So probably the best thing for Marcus will be now, he said it himself, will be to leave.
“Does that mean that he can’t stay? Of course he can. In 2010, was it Wayne Rooney put in a transfer request and 48 hours later, he signed a new contract. He’s not playing the level of Wayne Rooney, granted, but things can change. There is always a way back, but Marcus has to change. We know that. He has to change because he has certainly got talent.
“Form is one thing. Everyone can have bad spells, but I think what would be worrying for a club would be his attitude on the pitch. We saw it last year at times when there would be times he just wasn’t running and that’s my biggest fear for him.
“Somehow, he’s got to fall in love with football again. You have to love the game. You’re incredibly lucky to be playing at this level. It’s actually a sad situation to see because there’s no doubt he’s got talent, but somehow he’s got to fall back in love with the game and enjoy it because, at the moment, it looks like he’s playing football under duress.”
