GARY NEVILLE wants Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho to use their sackings as motivation to raise their standards.
The Manchester United duo were dropped from Ruben Amorim's matchday squad for yesterday's visit to the Etihad.
After the Red Devils' dramatic 2-1 win, Sky Sports pundits Neville, Roy Keane and Micah Richards debated Rashford and Garnacho's situation.
Neville, 49, said: “I don't know anything about their long-term future but what is really clear is that [Amorim] He mentioned dealing with teammates, he mentioned standards.
“He's giving us clues, in fact, emphatic clues, about the last few days of them moping around and not doing their bit on the training pitch.
“It's standards in training and he thought: 'No, I don't have it, I don't accept it'. Good for him.
“For far too long we have seen players walk across the field and still play a match or sit on the bench. No.
'It should be non-negotiable. If you don't give your all in your job, you're gone, you're out. That's all.'
Neville added that he hopes the pair can use this as fuel to level up and improve.
He continued: “We've been in this studio for years with ex-Man United players saying 'give your best' and players haven't backed down.
“We've seen Rashford and Garnacho line up on the left and right wings and not chase back when full-backs have gone past them and still stay on the pitch. Not anymore.”
“I want Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho to come back stronger and accept the message they received by training on the training pitch this morning on a Sunday where no one else was there.
“I want them to take this in the right spirit and become the very best players for Manchester United.
“I don't care who you are, whether you are Andrei Kanchelskis, Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, Nani, whoever you are, as a wide player at Manchester United you have to run this way.” [forward] as fast as you can and run that way [backwards] as fast as you can.
“They have the talent, they have the ability, but if they don't, there is no place for you in the club and there is no place for you in the team.”
Richards, meanwhile, tried to defend Rashford.
'THE WEIGHT OF THE WORLD'
After Neville compared the forward's application to Amad Diallo's, Richards, 36, said: “It's different though, for Rashford.
“He has the weight of the world on his shoulders, it's busy.
“You know what it's like. When you join the team as a kid, you run around.
“To me it seems like Rashford has the world on his shoulders. It seems to me there is a bigger problem than just football.”
Annoyed, Neville replied: “Micah, I played with David Beckham, with Wayne Rooney, with Roy Keane…
“The pressure Marcus Rashford is under is nothing like the pressure David Beckham and Roy Keane were under.”
Richards then hit back: “But look at your squad. The names you just looked up. All serial winners. This Man United team are not all serial winners.”
As Neville grabbed his glass of water, Keane replied to Richards: “We weren't winners to begin with Micah, you have to earn the right to win football games.”
Rashford watched the match from home and posted a photo of his TV after the match with the caption: “Yesssssssss! Love it guys.”
'IT'S A SIMPLE SELECTION'
Explaining his selection decisions, Amorim said: “We try to evaluate everything: training performance, game performance, commitment to teammates and taking their teammates to the next level.
“Everything is at stake as we analyze the players and try to choose. It's my selection. Simple.”
“I don't want to send a message, it's just an evaluation and they know that. The players are really smart.
“Everyone understands my decision and I have to choose. It's a simple selection.
“Of course the context is difficult because we have to win games and we have a difficult situation now.
“I pay attention to everything, the way you eat, the way you put on your clothes when you go to a match. Everything. I make my evaluation and then I decide.”
Man Utd are back in action on Thursday when they travel to Tottenham for the League Cup quarter-final.
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