Manchester United kicked off preseason last week and released the standard batch of training photos. Plenty of familiar faces. Some new arrivals. One notable absence: Kobbie Mainoo.
For fans who have been tracking the World Cup, the reason wasn’t exactly a mystery. Mainoo has been with England all summer. He just hasn’t played. Not a single minute. The guy who was arguably United’s best player down the stretch under Michael Carrick has spent the last six weeks glued to Thomas Tuchel’s bench, watching Elliot Anderson and Eberechi Eze handle the midfield.
It’s a waste. And it might cost United when the Premier League season starts.
A summer lost for the kid who carried United
Let’s be clear about what Mainoo did in the second half of last season. After Ruben Amorim basically froze him out, Carrick took over in January and immediately made the 21-year-old the centerpiece of his midfield. Mainoo responded by playing some of the best football of his young career. He scored against Liverpool. He ran games against Champions League contenders. He was the main reason United qualified for the big tournament again.
That form earned him a spot in Tuchel’s World Cup squad. The problem is that Tuchel has treated him like an emergency break in case of disaster. When Declan Rice went off against Norway last week, Tuchel didn’t look at Mainoo sitting on the bench. He sent on Reece James. A right back. Into central midfield.
If that doesn’t tell you everything about where Mainoo stands in Tuchel’s pecking order, nothing will.
Preseason matters more than people think
Here’s the thing about missing preseason: you don’t just lose fitness work. You lose the chance to build chemistry with new teammates. United brought in Youri Tielemans this summer, a deal that was basically done before the World Cup started. They also have Andrey Santos, who arrived last winter and is expected to be a big part of Carrick’s plans. Both of those guys are at Carrington right now, training together every day, learning each other’s tendencies.
Mainoo is sitting in a hotel room in Germany watching Netflix.
Carrick clearly views Mainoo as his best midfielder. But even the best midfielder needs reps with his partners. Tielemans and Santos will have a full preseason together. They’ll develop a feel for where each other likes the ball and how they cover space defensively. Mainoo will come back maybe a week before the season opener, and Carrick will have to decide whether to throw him in cold or ease him off the bench.
Wes Brown knows this situation better than most. The former United defender went to a World Cup with England and didn’t play a single minute. He told us in an exclusive interview that coming back from that kind of tournament is brutal. You’re physically fine. But mentally, you’re drained from the disappointment, and you’ve missed all the real groundwork with your club.
Mainoo hasn’t complained publicly. He’s too professional for that. But he’s also too talented to be wasting his summer on a bench when he could be building toward something bigger at United.
Tuchel may have his reasons. Maybe he doesn’t trust Mainoo’s defensive work in a tournament setting. Maybe he just prefers the experience of other guys. But from where United sits, this is a blown opportunity. A full summer with Carrick, Tielemans, and Santos could have turned a good midfield into a great one. Instead, Mainoo will be playing catch-up while the clock ticks toward August.
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