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After Marcus Rashford scored twice on his Champions League debut for Barcelona at Newcastle last month, Ruben Amorim was asked for his thoughts on the Manchester United outcast’s performance at a press conference the following lunchtime.
‘Rasmus scored his first goal for Napoli, so I'm really happy for Rasmus also,’ Amorim countered. ‘It's the same thing with Rasmus, guys. He scored, so let’s notice that.’
In deflecting the question on Rashford, Amorim shone a light on Rasmus Hojlund’s promising start in Italy, and another one of his former players who seems to be thriving away from the pressure cooker of Old Trafford.
If we had waited another week, Amorim could have discussed the latest highlight of Antony’s new career at Real Betis as he scored a late Europa League equaliser against Nottingham Forest.
On Tuesday, Alejandro Garnacho’s first Champions League start for Chelsea was rewarded with an assist on the only goal of the game when Benfica’s Richard Rios scored in his own goal. Just 48 hours later, Hojlund struck twice in Napoli’s win over Sporting Lisbon, playing alongside Scott McTominay who has also gone from strength to strength since leaving United for Serie A two months before Amorim’s appointment.
Meanwhile, Rashford was at it again with a superb assist in Barcelona’s thrilling 2-1 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, setting up Ferran Torres to fire the Catalans in front.
Ex-Man United forward Rasmus Hojlund scored twice in the Champions League on Wednesday
Hojlund joins Scott McTominay in appearing to enjoy a new lease of life away from Man United
Marcus Rashford impressed for Barcelona against PSG and is delivering goal contributions
It was reminiscent of his performance on loan at Aston Villa against PSG in last season’s quarter-finals when the Premier League side gave the eventual European champions an almighty scare. Rashford now has a goal or assist in his last six games for Barca.
Yes, Hojlund and Amorim’s so-called ‘bomb squad’ seem to be ticking along very nicely, thank you very much.
As he clings onto his job at Old Trafford, United’s head coach has got enough problems of his own right now without worrying about what is going on elsewhere.
But that doesn’t make it any less embarrassing that the players he has effectively banished from United are enjoying a new lease of life while Amorim’s side have stumbled into the new season. And it doesn't make it any less galling for United fans, sitting at home fuming as they watch their former players performing on the European stage.
There is a degree of sympathy for Amorim that Rashford was failing to produce the kind of form he showed in Erik ten Hag’s first season long before Amorim replaced the Dutchman last November.
The player’s attitude and body language had exasperated even his most ardent supporters before Amorim famously said that he would rather pick his 63-year-old goalkeeper coach Jorge Vital than Rashford.
Antony had already been written off as arguably the most expensive mistake in United’s history before Amorim set foot inside Old Trafford. Hojlund simply wasn’t scoring enough goals, although the question marks over the service he was receiving seem more valid than ever.
By disrespecting his manager in public after last season’s Europa League final, Garnacho went the same way as another member of the bomb squad, Jadon Sancho, when he took on Ten Hag.
It is embarrassing to players Ruben Amorim jettisoned performing as his side keep stumbling
Alejandro Garnacho was axed for disrespecting Amorim, with many supporters backing the decisions the Man United boss to offload stars who were failing to deliver for the club
Many had hoped Amorim would be able to relate to young stars and get a tune out of them
Sancho is spending the last year of his United contract on loan at Villa after spells with Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund. It would be just Amorim’s luck that he scores in the Europa League at Feyenoord on Thursday night.
But wasn’t Amorim brought in to work with young players? Having only turned 40 in January, shouldn’t he relate to them better than Ten Hag? To get Rashford back to his best? To have the same effect on Hojlund as he did on Viktor Gyokeres at Sporting?
Hojlund was desperate to stay at United but knew the game was up when the club signed Benjamin Sesko and he was left out of the squad entirely for the first four games of the season.
Although the Slovenian got his first goal at the seventh attempt at Brentford last weekend, he doesn’t look like a significant upgrade on Hojlund after United agreed to pay RB Leipzig up to £73.7million.
Wingers Rashford, Garnacho, Antony and Sancho were jettisoned so Amorim could sign the wide players to better suit his 3-4-2-1 system, with a further £133.5m going on Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha.
Meanwhile, the club took a considerable hit on Hojlund and three of the five bomb squad players who were forbidden from training with the rest of the first-team group this summer – a decision by Amorim that severely impaired the club’s ability to get the best price for them.
Benjamin Sesko is off the mark but the £73.7m forward does not seem an upgrade on Hojlund
Hojlund wanted to stay but knew his time was up when he was axed from the squad
Hojlund cost United £72m but his loan deal with Napoli includes an obligation to buy for £38m. Antony was signed for £86m and went to Betis for £21.65m after impressing there on loan last season.
Rashford was once a £100m player, but United have an agreement with Barcelona to sell him for £26m next summer. Garnacho, valued at £70m in January, joined Chelsea for £40m.
For a club struggling to comply with profit and sustainability rules, these losses are considerable. As the pressure builds once again, Amorim can only hope he doesn’t end up paying the price.
