MANCHESTER UNITED icon Gary Neville has apologised for his criticism of Marcus Rashford and Casemiro in the wake of their trip to the USA last week.
The duo spent the international break in the States after missing out on a call-up to their respective national teams.
Rashford was pictured watching Friday’s NBA clash between the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets at Madison Square Garden.
Meanwhile, Casemiro flew to Orlando to enjoy a family holiday at Disney World and a Magic game at Kia Center.
However, both players received backlash with ex-United defender Neville leading the criticism.
Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, the pundit explained: “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 – 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.”
But in a recent interview with new Man Utd boss Ruben Amorim for Sky Sports, he partially took back some of his criticism.
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Neville 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.”
Amorim insisted it was not his decision to let the duo travel during the break.
He even went as far as to suggest he would have banned them from flying.
Amorim explained: “I think the main question here is that us, as a club, have to set the standards and have to manage that.
“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. For me? Yes for sure [he would have banned them].
“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.”
Amorim’s reign at Man Utd will officially begin this weekend when the Red Devils face Ipswich at Portman Road.
The ex-Sporting Lisbon manager is determined to change things at Old Trafford, with United currently 13th in the Premier League table.
He said: “Call me naive. But I truly believe I am the right guy in the right moment.
“I could be wrong but the world still will turn [and] the sun will rise again, I don’t worry about that.
“I truly believe I’m the right guy for this job.
“In two years you will understand if I am the right man to be in this process.
“In two years you can understand if you want to continue on this path or you want to change.
“I know if you are at Manchester United you have to win games, so I will not tell you I need a lot of time.”
By Charlie Wyett
RUBEN AMORIM would have preferred to leave Lisbon in a blaze of glory after winning a third Primeira Liga title.
Yet football does not work like that. And in what was surely his final game before taking charge of Manchester United, Amorim prepared to say his goodbyes at a half-empty Estadio Jose Alvalade in a League Cup quarter-final against Nacional.
Sporting won 3-1 thanks to second-half goals by captain Morten Hjulmand and Viktor Gyokeres, who scored two.
Luis Esteves pulled back for Madeira-based Nacional.
The stadium will be a good deal more lively on Tuesday when Manchester City are here for a Champions League match — although Amorim should by then have his feet firmly under his desk at Old Trafford.
Liverpool and Aston Villa were both interested in Europe’s most sought-after coach. Even City could have been a possible destination post-Pep Guardiola.
Yet the United job is one Amorim, 39, could not turn down — even if not everyone saw it that way at Sporting last night.
There is clearly a huge split in the Portuguese club’s fan base over their coach leaving at this stage of the season with many believing he should have seen the job through.
Yet Amorim, along with the three-man coaching team who are expected to follow him, leaves a club in a much better state than when he arrived here in 2020.
Inside the stadium, there was applause — albeit muted — when his name was read out before the game along with the line-ups.
And there did not appear to be any jeers when Amorim shuffled out from the tunnel awkwardly towards the dugout.
So, while his departure is hard to take for some, none of the fans will forget his legacy.
This is a club which is back as the dominant force in Portugal. Even this term, Sporting have won their first nine league games, scoring 30 goals and conceding just two.
They are also eighth in the Champions League table, which is one hell of an effort.
In contrast, Lisbon was not exactly hit by League Cup fever last night.
Amorim made lots of changes, which saw Sporting’s star man Gyokeres, the former Coventry striker, start on the bench.
There was, however, a first appearance in six weeks for former Tottenham winger Marcus Edwards.
He is certainly one player who has been transformed by Amorim since arriving at the club from Vitoria in 2022 and will be sorry to see the coach leave.
While he changed his team, Amorim stuck with his tried and trusted formation of a back three.
It will certainly be something Manchester United’s fans will have to get used to over the coming months.
But looking at the Premier League table, none of them will be complaining about the change.
