Ruben Amorim has made statement after Man Utd boss felt 'let down' by three senior players

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Ruben Amorim has made his feelings abundantly clear on players who let down his predecessor, Erik ten Hag. It’s approaching a year since Ten Hag was shown the door by Manchester United following a wretched start to the season.

The Dutchman failed to build on the promise offered by winning both domestic cups, joining the long list of managers to be jettisoned since the end of Sir Alex Ferguson ’s glorious reign in 2013. It was clear that Ten Hag didn’t see eye to eye with a number of his players, including some he had brought to the club.

And during the dying embers of his reign, it emerged that the former Ajax boss felt particularly let down by three senior players: Marcus Rashford , Casemiro and Antony, a player he worked with in the Netherlands before signing him for more than £80million.

Teg Hag felt the trio could have done more to secure the results that would have kept him in a job longer. He was replaced by Amorim, who has had similar difficulties in getting the best out of some of United’s high-profile players.

After being appointed in November last year, he quickly fell out with Rashford, cutting him from his squad and then allowing him to leave for Aston Villa on loan. Rashford secured a dream move to Barcelona in the summer and would like to make his loan permanent, severing ties with his boyhood club for good.

Antony was also quickly moved on after failing to impress Amorim. After spending the second half of last season on loan at Real Betis, the head coach sanctioned his sale to the La Liga club for around £22m, even though it meant a huge loss of £60m.

Amorim was willing to let Casemiro go as well, both in January and in the summer, but United were unsuccessful in offloading the high-earning Brazilian.

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A £15m fee was required for United to avoid a loss under Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR). With no club willing to stump up that kind of cash for a player in his 30s, he ended up staying put.

But instead of winding down the final season of his contract, Casemiro has been one of Amorim’s more reliable performers this season, tasked with sitting in front of the back four and breaking up play.

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Amorim will need the likes of Casemiro to maintain his form if he is to build on finally completing back-to-back wins with last weekend’s memorable 2-1 triumph at Liverpool .

But as Rashford, Antony and others have found out, Amorim isn’t afraid to ostracise any player who isn’t prepared to buy into his methods.