Gary Neville slams Man Utd's Marcus Rashford and Casemiro for 'unprofessional' US trips
Marcus Rashford jetted off to the US during the international break, with former Man Utd skipper Gary Neville criticising the forward for a perceived lack of wisdom
by David McDonnell · The MirrorGary Neville has branded Marcus Rashford and Casemiro “unprofessional” for jetting off to New York during the international break.
Manchester United striker Rashford took full advantage of his continued England omission by flying to the States for a mini-break, where he took in a New York Knicks basketball game.
Rashford was back in Manchester to start training under new boss Ruben Amorim on Monday, but former United skipper Neville claimed the 27-year-old showed a lack of professionalism with his Stateside jaunt.
“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,” said Neville on the Stick To Football podcast from Sky Bet.
“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?”
United midfielder Casemiro also jetted off to the States during the international break, with Neville also castigating the 32-year-old Brazil star for the perceived lack of wisdom over making such a trip.
“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,” said Neville.
“They [Casemiro and Marcus Rashford ] have chosen that international break. If you're 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.”
“I’m not that wound up about Rashford and Casemiro going over to the United States, but what I’m asking is, if you’ve got a four-day break, Portland is a 12-hour flight and an eight-hour time difference, your jet-lag is bad, and you feel a bit [rough].
“I’m asking the question based on professionalism - you’re playing badly, the team are losing, you're 13th in the league, and there's a new manager coming in – would you choose that trip as a break to recharge your batteries? That’s not a recharging trip. It’s not right that.”
Another former United captain, Roy Keane, claimed making such trips during breaks in the season and now common practice for the modern-day multi-millionaire footballer.
“For Rashford and all these lads, going to the United States and going on private jets, whatever they're doing – like basketball - that’s the norm for them,” said Keane.
“We’re sitting there and going ‘all the way to the States?’ They would think the States is no big deal. We might consider the long flights and the jet-lag, but that's their norm. If they were sitting here, they would say ‘What are you talking about? This is my life and it’s what I do’.”
Arsenal legend Ian Wright said there would be no furore over Rashford's US trip if the forward – who has not scored in his las eight games – was finding the net regularly.
“Casemiro and Rashford are taking a chance that this is going to be criticised if they don’t play well,” said Wright. “They're accepting what’s to come. It puts you under pressure but then suddenly you can see how quickly it will change, if Rashford doesn’t do well in his first game, and in the next two or three games he scores - nobody cares. He’ll go somewhere else because suddenly it doesn’t matter to people anymore.”
Neville, Keane and Wright were speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet
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