Gary Neville has apologised in front of Ruben Amorim regarding his criticism of Marcus Rashford and Casemiro.
Sunday afternoon will see Amorim take his first game as manager of Manchester United. The team travel to Portman Road to face struggling Ipswich in hope of a new beginning. Even before he’s taken his first step on a Premier League sideline, he’s received an apology from an ex-United player.
Rashford and Casemiro travelled to America during the international break. Although this time could have been used for the Portuguese manager to set responsibilities around the club, the United pair took time to relax and enjoy some basketball. Neville initially thought this wasn’t up to the standards of the club.
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He said on the Stick to Football podcast: “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.
“He has got a mental break, he’s got to get away and has got to rest with friends – than 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.”
Rashford was seen at an NBA game at Madison Square Garden as the New York Knicks faced close neighbours Brooklyn Nets. Casemiro on the other hand travelled to Orlando. He also watched an NBA game with Orlando Magic, but also took time with his family at Disney World.
What was an important detail that Neville admittedly got wrong was the fact that both players actually travelled to New York, not Oregon. Neville apologised for his comments in an interview with Amorim.
The ex-England player said: “I made a comment this week about Casemiro and Marcus Rashford travelling to America in their few days off. It was just me thinking as a Manchester United player when I played here.
“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.
“And that focus and preparation and every single little detail is really important, and I said I don’t think I’d have chosen that trip to go to America with the time difference.
“I did get it wrong – they went to New York rather than Portland so I apologise for that. But there’s still a 5-6 hour time difference, they’re on planes, Casemiro’s 30 years of age.”
