Gary Neville has challenged Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho to 'come back stronger' after their Manchester derby romp.
Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim made a bold call to leave both his star wingers out of his matchday squad entirely for the trip to Manchester United.
Ultimately, Amorim was proven right as United recorded a stunning come-from-behind victory in the final moments to beat City 2-1, leaving the local rivals with eight defeats in 11 games.
But the talking point after the match continued to be the axing of Rashford and Garnacho, and Neville believes the decision to leave both out was the right one.
“I don't know anything about their long-term future,” Neville told Sky Sports, “but what is really clear is that [Amorim] He mentioned dealing with teammates, he mentioned standards. He gives us clues, in fact, emphatic clues, about the last few days of them moping around and not doing their part on the training ground.
'They are 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 is not allowed to be negotiated. If you don't give your all in your work, you're gone, you're out. That's all.'
Rashford watched from home and has since broken his silence on his Instagram page, while Garnacho has remained tight-lipped on his social media about being left out.
Amorim made it clear that standards must be met and players who fall below them will not be tolerated.
But Neville doesn't think leaving out the derby is the end of the road for the two players.
“We've been in this studio for years with ex-Man United players saying 'give your best' and players haven't backed down,” he continued.
'We have 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 remain 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've got the talent, they've got the ability, but if they don't, there's no place for you in the club, there's no place for you in the team.”
Fellow Sky Sports pundit Micah Richards claimed he believes Rashford can be used as a 'scapegoat' too often at Manchester United, a judgment both Neville and Roy Keane disagreed with.
The two former United players believe pressure is a privilege as a star player and that more is asked of the likes of Rashford, who earns around £325,000 a week.
For Keane, the decision to leave them out, if it had been him as a player, would have left a mark.
'If a manager said that about you as a player after the match and gave little signals about why you've been left out of the first-team squad, and not on the bench in an important match, a derby match against Man City, and If you “If you heard these comments about what he might think about you, you would be ashamed of your life,” the former United captain said.
“To come out with the sounds they were training this morning, training on the training pitch, they have to keep their fitness up. He knows what he is doing, this manager. Amorim is one smart cookie and he has some power now.
'Those players at home are stuck there and think: 'Good God, I'm ashamed, that's what he says about me'.
“He had to make big decisions, that's what he did. His eyes don't lie to him.'
Eyes will now turn to Thursday evening and the United Carabao Cup quarter-final at Tottenham, where another no-show in the squad for both players would raise eyebrows over their long-term futures.
Neither player is seen as untouchable as United look to generate cash that will allow Amorim to transform the playing squad.
United are under pressure to generate these funds as they struggle to comply with PSR regulations and have posted losses of £300m over the past three years. Rashford in particular has emerged as a prime candidate for sale.
After spending a further £200m on transfers last summer, United had no budget to pay another £21.4m to replace Erik ten Hag with Amorim.
That means United would consider a £40 million bid for Rashford, but it is unlikely there will be any bidders for the England forward in the January transfer window.
Selling homegrown players counts as a 100 percent profit on PSR's balance sheet, and the spotlight has been on Rashford for some time, who has been with the club since he was seven.
It is believed the 27-year-old's asking price would have been as much as £100 million when he scored 30 goals in Ten Hag's first season at United.
But Rashford's loss of form and the contract he signed last year worth a prohibitive £325,000-a-week has seen his value more than halved.
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