The choice of words was not lost on anyone sitting in a rather featureless room in the bowels of the Arena Nationala late on Thursday night.
Just 24 hours after Ruben Amorim had taken to the podium here and warned that Marcus Rashford had to ‘change’ to revive his United career, the manager painted a very different picture of Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo.
Garnacho and Rashford were axed from the squad for the Manchester derby in December, with Amorim unhappy about their attitude in training. But while Rashford remains out in the cold 11 games later and may no longer be a United player beyond Monday’s transfer deadline, Garnacho has worked his way back into the boss’s good books.
‘He changed right away after that game at City,’ said Amorim. ‘The way he understands things and understands that I just want to help him. I just want to win games.
‘The approach when we talked with him, he changed in everything. The way he recovers. He understands I am a different coach, that I am demanding in my way and sometimes it is hard to make the first impact. He understands that he is never in a bad way. It is always for him. All the merit is for Garnacho.’
The 20-year-old Argentina winger was sent on as a half-time substitute against Steaua Bucharest on Thursday night and helped change the game, setting up a goal for Mainoo in United’s 2-0 win to clinch a place in the last 16 of the Europa League.
Alejandro Garnacho (left) and Kobbie Mainoo (right) have been praised by boss Ruben Amorim
Marcus Rashford, though, remains out in the cold 11 games after being dropped by his boss
Amorim (pictured) hailed Garnacho for changing ‘right away after that game at City’
Garnacho has struggled to convert from a conventional wide man under former boss Erik ten Hag to one of the two No 10s in Amorim’s 3-4-3 system, but this performance was more evidence that he is getting there.
‘He is improving and we want to continue to improve with Garnacho,’ added Amorim. ‘He understood the position, the moments of playing inside and outside, the connection with Mainoo. He is improving a lot.’
Mainoo has also experienced teething problems adapting to Amorim’s demands. He was reinstated to the line-up in Bucharest, having been on the bench for the games against Fulham and Rangers, and substituted early in the previous two matches against Brighton and Southampton.
Amorim admitted on Thursday night he played the 19-year-old higher up the pitch against Steaua because he has struggled in a more defensive role.
Mainoo embraced the change, laying on the first goal for Diogo Dalot before scoring the second one himself.
The dip in form and spells out of the line-up have coincided with Mainoo’s contract stalemate with United, as he demands a pay rise to £180,000 a week, more in keeping with a player who started for England in the European Championship final against Spain last summer.
But Amorim believes Mainoo’s problems were more positional than personal, and hopes reverting to the more attacking role he enjoyed as a youngster coming through United’s academy will put a smile back on his face. ‘I don’t think it is the contract,’ he said. ‘Everybody in England sees him as a very good player. He played in the Euros final. I think it is more the position, where he is not comfortable.
‘Before he was always playing, and now sometimes he plays and sometimes he doesn’t. He doesn’t play and he is not comfortable. Maybe there is something to do with that.
Mainoo has also experienced teething problems adapting to Amorim’s demands, though may have found a new position
Amorim believes the problems were positional rather than personal – he played the No 10 role in Europe on Thursday
‘But the key point is the position. It is different for him. It demands a lot from him. In that (No 10) position, I feel he is more happy to play, simple as that. I don’t look at just the movements, the way he touches the ball. I feel it watching him. He was so happy on the pitch. That is important for me because if they are happy, they play better.’
This has been a worrying period in the United careers of Mainoo and Garnacho. Previously seen as untouchable, they were the goalscoring heroes of the FA Cup final win over Manchester City at Wembley in May and two-thirds of an iconic image captured this time last year, perched on an advertising board alongside Rasmus Hojlund after Garnacho had scored against West Ham in the Premier League. The bright, youthful future at Old Trafford.
But the financial issues caused by United’s overspending, and the fact that homegrown talents like Mainoo and Garnacho are worth 100 per cent profit on the PSR balance sheet, has left the club vulnerable to bids this month and again in the summer.
Chelsea have registered an interest in purchasing both players and Napoli have tested United’s resolve to keep Garnacho after his very public omission from the Manchester derby.
There are no guarantees given United’s precarious financial position, but Amorim is hopeful he can hang on to them both.
‘I want players like Kobbie and Garnacho,’ he said. ‘The focus is that we have to improve our academy, and you have to bring more through. That is something that all the clubs in England have to take advantage of.
‘The players that come from the academy: to play, to fill the shirt and also to sell. So our focus is to bring more. The rest, I just want to prepare with both of them for the next game.’
Fellow academy product Rashford is a different matter. He has not responded to Amorim’s demands, and is still in exile ahead of Sunday’s game at home to Crystal Palace as United go for a fourth win in a row.
An iconic image captured this time last year, when Garnacho and Mainoo were considered untouchable at United
Amorim is determined to keep both Mainoo and Garnacho, while Rashford looks for an exit
Amorim’s comment before Thursday that the issue isn’t personal hinted at rapprochement
The Portuguese’s comment before the Steaua game that the issue isn’t personal hinted at rapprochement, albeit one that could be forced on United and the player if Rashford cannot secure a move away from his hometown club before Monday’s deadline.
For once, he wasn’t the topic of conversation in Bucharest. It was pointed out to Amorim that Rashford hadn’t even been mentioned in his post-match press conference. ‘One time, guys, congratulations!’ he smiled.
United’s prospects of securing that fourth win in a row improved on Friday when Palace talisman Eberechi Eze was ruled out of Sunday’s match.
Manager Oliver Glasner also confirmed Chadi Riad and Cheick Doucoure would miss the rest of the season, but midfielder Adam Wharton returns to the squad.
‘He’s (Eze) struggled in the last weeks,’ said Glasner. ‘He got a knock in the League Cup game (against Arsenal) at the Emirates and since then he’s always had pain, training and not training, playing and then taking him off.
‘He didn’t train almost the whole of last week and this week he started again and then we decided that we want to get him pain-free, so he’s able to perform at his best level, so he won’t go with us to Manchester.
‘We play Doncaster (on February 10) and there’s still hope that leaving him out of boots for five, six or seven days, everything can settle down and he will return quite quickly.’
Wharton made 10 appearances across all competitions before surgery to fix a groin issue, but he has experienced setbacks on the road to recovery.
‘He’s had a very good week,’ added Glasner. ‘We are all looking forward to him staying now, because we still have up to 20 games until the end of the season. He’s a great player with his progressive passing and he can help us getting the ball into the final third and creating chances.’
