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Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has made headlines after saying it would be better to keep his 63-year-old goalkeeping coach as a reserve player than Marcus Rashford because he lacks effort.
Rashford has not played for United in six weeks. Amorim says the England striker is not performing well in training.
His future at Old Trafford is uncertain, with a host of European clubs linked with a move for the 27-year-old ahead of next week’s transfer deadline.
This is not the first time a Premier League coach has publicly criticized one of his players.
Harry Redknapp and Darren Bent
Harry Redknapp claimed his wife would have scored when Darren Bent missed a late chance to seal a place in Tottenham’s 1-1 draw with Portsmouth in January 2009.
Redknapp said: “You can’t get a better chance to win a goal than the one you got. My wife could have scored.”
Despite the statement, Bent remained in Redknapp’s ranks and finished the 2008–09 season as Tottenham’s top scorer with 17 goals, before joining Sunderland in the summer.
Redknapp spent another three and a half years at White Hart Lane (Tottenham), helping them reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League in 2011, but was sacked in June 2012.
Harry Redknapp and Adel Taarabt
Redknapp, then manager of QPR, did not hesitate to criticise Adel Taarabt when asked why the midfielder had been left out of the squad for the game against Liverpool in October 2014.
“I can’t defend people who don’t want to run and train, and they weigh three stone,” said Redknapp.
“He played in the second team game the other day and I could have run more than he did. I can’t pick him.”
Taarabt responded by saying Redknapp was making excuses for the team’s poor results, at a time when the team was bottom of the Premier League standings.
The midfielder played just five games for the club, before joining Benfica in the summer of 2015.
QPR were relegated at the end of the 2014–15 season. Redknapp led the team back to promotion the following season before resigning in January 2015.
Jose Mourinho and Luke Shaw
Jose Mourinho criticised England defender Luke Shaw while in charge of Manchester United, questioning his commitment and fitness.
After coming on as a substitute against Everton in April 2017, Mourinho said the full-back used “his body and my brain.”
He added: “He was in front of me and I was making every decision for him.”
Shaw is still at Old Trafford but is injured, and has only played three games this season.
Mourinho was sacked in December 2018 after a poor start to the season.
Jose Mourinho and Tanguy Ndombele
Mourinho, who moved to Tottenham and became Tottenham manager, criticised £54m signing Tanguy Ndombele in March 2020.
After the midfielder was substituted at half-time against Burnley, Mourinho said: “In the first half we didn’t have a midfield. He [Ndombele] has had enough time to improve.
“I know the Premier League is difficult, and some players take a long time to adapt to a different league. But a player with the potential of him, he must give us more than he is giving us now.”
There was no happy ending for Mourinho or Ndombele. Mourinho was sacked in April 2021 after 17 months in charge, just days before the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City at Wembley Stadium.
Ndombele regained a place in the team during the 2020-21 season, but spent the next three seasons on loan before being released on a free transfer in June 2024.
Pep Guardiola and Calvin Phillips
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has claimed that Kalvin Phillips is “too heavy” after returning from the 2022 World Cup and that is why he was left out of the squad for the Carabao Cup fourth round match against Liverpool.
Phillips said the comments “really damaged his confidence,” with Guardiola publicly apologizing to the England midfielder.
The former Leeds player made 27 appearances for City before joining West Ham on loan in January 2024. He then moved to Ipswich on loan last season.
Erik ten Hag and Jadon Sancho
Jadon Sancho started the season with Manchester United before joining Chelsea on loan
Manchester United’s then-manager Erik ten Hag did not play Jadon Sancho in the match against Arsenal in September 2023 because he believed the England winger had not reached the “standard” required in training to be included.
Sancho responded by saying, he has been made “a scapegoat for a long time.”
He was forced to train outside the first team before joining his former club Borussia Dortmund on loan in January.
Ten Hag held open talks with Sancho when he returned to United from Borussia Dortmund, during pre-season training in the summer of 2024, but the former Manchester City player joined Chelsea on loan on the final day of the transfer window.
Ten Hag was sacked by Manchester United in October with the club in 14th place in the Premier League, having won just three of their opening nine matches.
Ange Postecoglou and Timo Werner
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou said Timo Werner’s performance was “unacceptable” after he was substituted at half-time in the Europa League draw with Rangers in December.
“We need everyone, including him, to contribute,” said Postecoglou. “I expected a high level of performance from some of the senior players, and tonight that wasn’t the case.”
German striker Werner has started two games and made five appearances as a substitute since the Rangers game.
Postecoglou remains at Tottenham but is under pressure after losing eight of his last 10 Premier League games.
