SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Jose Mourinho has defended his decision to call for Marcus Rashford to miss England's European U-21 Championship campaign in Poland last month, insisting it would have been "too much" for the Manchester United teenager.
Rashford, 19, had been expected to travel with the Under-21s to the tournament in June until England manager Gareth Southgate accepted Mourinho's assertion that the youngster's progress had taken him beyond the junior team.
And although Rashford was called into the senior England squad for the games against Scotland and France at the end of the season, his campaign ended in early-June, enabling him to have a month-long break from the game.
Having made 53 appearances in all competitions for United last season, Rashford has appeared refreshed and revitalised during the club's preseason tour of the United States.
And Mourinho claims that Rashford is now benefiting from the rest having insisted that playing in Poland would have been a bridge too far.
"It would be too much for him," Mourinho told ESPN FC. "And I think the results of the youth football, English youth football, in these European and World Cup tournaments show that other kids are good and other kids deserve opportunities.
"There was no need for a player like Marcus, after a Europa League final and after playing for the first national team, he wouldn't need that.
"He needs the rest. Players need the rest. And for a young player, even more."