Ruben Amorim's stance on Kobbie Mainoo raises questions about Man United's academy pathway

First Ruben Amorim came for Marcus Rashford but Manchester United fans did not speak out because they had also questioned his commitment and performances. Then he came for Alejandro Garnacho and still they did not speak out as the winger’s attitude had become unbearable. But then he came for Kobbie Mainoo and there was total uproar, enough to finally push the patient supporters over the edge.

In Amorim's very first interview as Manchester United manager with the club's website, he said the most important thing was not to get his players to adapt to his new formation but to go back to the basics of what it meant to play for the Red Devils.

"The most important thing is the feeling of belonging of the club. And we have history in that department," Amorim said after his first week working at Carrington.

"I think it's important because a lot of people now talk about the 3-4-3 and the 4-3-3 and all that stuff. But when I think as a player or as a team-mate of Manchester United, it is not a system or formation, it's like the character of the players, the way they see the club. The most important thing for me at this moment is to create the principles, the identity and the character that we had in the past."

Ask any United fan what the club's identity is and two themes will come up: bold, attacking football and young players, particularly homegrown young players. Amorim has given little priority to either principle.

While United fans have been remarkably patient with the coach that presided over their worst campaign in 51 years, continuing to sing that the Portuguese will "turn the Reds around" at matches, his sparse use of Mainoo, who is the only academy graduate in the squad with a first-team appearance to his name, is severely testing their faith...

Twelve minutes per game

United’s fans’ feelings towards Mainoo could be seen in the rapturous applause he got when he came off the bench against Wolves on Monday. But the timing of his arrival said all about his lack of importance in the team. It was the 78th minute and United were already 3-1 up against the worst team in the league, perhaps in Premier League history.

It was hard not to think back to when Mainoo appeared at Molineux for the first time little more than two years ago, playing the whole game and scoring a last-gasp winner with a jinking run and low curled finish right into the bottom corner. There was tangible excitement about Mainoo then after scoring his first Premier League goal against Wolves, which he followed with a stunning curler against Liverpool and then finished off an incredible team goal which proved to be the winner in the FA Cup final against Manchester City.

His rapid ascension into the England team to play six games at Euro 2024 seemed to cement his rise but his career is now at a crossroads as he is still waiting for his first Premier League start of the season. The most he has played was 45 minutes against Burnley in August when Mason Mount got injured. He is averaging 12 minutes per Premier League game.

No laughing matter

Amorim started Mainoo in eight of his first 13 Premier League games, mostly in the double midfield pivot alongside Manuel Ugarte. The most eye-brow-raising moment was when he started him as a false nine against Crystal Palace, a game United lost 2-0. He then suffered an injury in training which kept him out for two months and when he returned Casemiro had re-established his place in the midfield two, with Mainoo only starting when Amorim wanted to rest players for the Europa League knockout rounds.

Mainoo’s brilliant goal against Lyon kept United in the competition but he was not rewarded with a bigger role and in the final against Tottenham he was brought on in added time. But it was still a surprise to see him not start any of the team’s first three Premier League games and his continued absence from the line-up four months into the season has led to Amorim, understandably, being frequently asked why he has used Mainoo so little.

And when Mainoo’s name was mentioned in a press conference in the aftermath of the limp 1-1 draw at home to West Ham, Amorim let out a snigger, stunning journalists in the room and angering many fans watching online. To the coach, it would seem, Mainoo had become something of a joke.

"I understand what you are saying - you love Kobbie, he started for England," he said. "But that doesn't mean that I need to put Kobbie [in] when I feel that I shouldn't put Kobbie [in], so it's my decision. I just want to win, I don't look who it is, I don't care about that, I'm just trying to put the best players on the pitch."

Academy culture war

Amorim, though, was missing a crucial point: it does matter that Mainoo is the only academy player left and he is barely part of the team any more. It led to heated conversation between the coach and BBC journalist Simon Stone, who suggested Amorim did not “trust” players from the academy. "Why?" was the coach’s tetchy response, only to be told "because you never pick any players from it". To sum up the dire situation, Amorim mentioned Mainoo as one academy player he does pick.

Mainoo’s lack of playing time has partly led to a large focus falling on Shea Lacey, the 18-year-old from Liverpool who has been named in the squad for the last four matches.

The mention of Lacey led to more incredulity from Amorim, who reasonably explained that Amad Diallo and Bryan Mbeumo were more reliable options than the untested teenager. United fans are not really up in arms about Lacey’s lack of minutes. It is the absence of Mainoo, who started a European Championship final and scored in an FA Cup final, and who many believe could make his stop-start team better, that people find hard to understand.

And for all Amorim talks about wanting to win, his team are not doing it regularly enough.

In the coach’s defence, he has far fewer games in which to give opportunities to young players than last season, when Chido Obi, Toby Collyer, Tyler Fredricson and Harry Amass all got their chances. Mainoo, though, had already proven himself but is a victim of Amorim’s rigid system and his insistence on playing two midfielders. It means that he is directly competing with Bruno Fernandes, who just happens to be United’s most important player and someone who never gets injured.

'Got to get out of there'

Amorim has been unable to give any assurances that Mainoo will play more when Mbeumo and Amad head to the AFCON. And while an obvious solution is to play Fernandes further forward to replace Mbeumo in attacking midfield and bring Mainoo back in, it is more likely that Mason Mount will get a greater run in the team and the 20-year-old will stay in the shadows.

For Mainoo to get his career going again, seeking a loan move in January is obligatory. The fact that he does not want to leave permanently, or at least not yet, shows that he is still committed to the club and does not want to jump ship, especially with Amorim’s long-term future at the club far from secure. But now prominent former United players are urging him to leave.

"If I think about it and put myself in Kobbie Mainoo’s shoes I’m out of there, I’ve got to," said Rio Ferdinand on his Youtube channel. "He has just wasted 18 months of his career now at Manchester United. He’s probably been there six months longer than he should’ve been. He should’ve just gone and I think his agent and more importantly his family around him have to protect him."

Doesn't get the club

Paul Scholes made his feelings clear with a furious outburst on Instagram earlier this month after Amorim had claimed Mainoo was a starter. "Bulls***," Scholes wrote in reaction to Amorim's remarks. "The kid is being ruined, not being played in a team that can't control a game of football. Hate seeing home grown players leave but it's probably best for him now, enough is enough."

Scholes deleted his comments but he doubled down on the same view in the latest episode of The Good, The Bad and the Football podcast. "You would have to advise him to go. If he rang me and said 'I think Chelsea are in for me what do you think?' I'd say 'all day long'"

For Scholes, the Mainoo saga is just one example that shows Amorim is not the right manager for United. "I don't think the manager gets this club, full stop," he said. "I just don't think he's the right man. Man United is about risk and entertainment more than anything, at home having fans on their seat f***ing ready to go, wingers who beat people, shots on goal.

"There is nothing there. He brought four defenders on against West Ham. If we go 1-0 up, the manager always said you go for the jugular, you get two, three, four. He just doesn't get it, I don't think anyone at the club gets Man United."

A revolt is coming

Scholes added: "They love homegrown players at United, of course they do, so why is Jason Wilcox, Berrada, allowing the manager to treat a homegrown talent like that? If you're winning every week and are top of the league, yeah but they're 12th in the league."

And that is the key point. Amorim would have very few critics if he was overseeing United’s rise to the top with little homegrown influence. In times of trouble, seeing locally raised players break into the team, as Mainoo and Garnacho did during Erik ten Hag’s difficult second season, can soothe the wounds.

United’s win over Wolves took them into sixth in the Premier League but the real test comes now in a busy Christmas period when United take on Bournemouth, Aston Villa and Newcastle United and will have to make do without Amad and Mbeumo. And if the season continues on this pattern of one step forward and one step back then the dissenting voices about the way Amorim is taking the club will turn into a full-on revolt.