{"id":359316,"date":"2025-08-20T11:41:24","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T11:41:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/359316\/"},"modified":"2025-08-20T11:41:24","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T11:41:24","slug":"manchester-united-fans-cannot-panic-about-youngster-kobbie-mainoo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/359316\/","title":{"rendered":"Manchester United fans cannot panic about youngster Kobbie Mainoo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kobbie Mainoo was left on the bench as Man Utd lost 1-0 against Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday.\"Steven<\/p>\n

Steven is a senior writer and covers Manchester United for the Manchester Evening News. You can follow Steven on Twitter at @StevenRailston.<\/p>\n

Mainoo was an unused substitute against Arsenal.(Image: 2025 Manchester United FC)<\/p>\n

Manchester United youngster Kobbie Mainoo was an unused substitute against Arsenal last weekend.<\/p>\n

There have been concerns about where Mainoo fits into Ruben Amorim’s plans, but we’re just one game into the new Premier League campaign and it’s certainly not time to panic.<\/p>\n

Bruno Fernandes<\/a> and Casemiro started in the pivot against Arsenal. Manuel Ugarte was introduced for Casemiro in the 65th minute of the contest and Mainoo was left on the bench, clearly for tactical reasons.<\/p>\n

Ugarte has a different profile and Amorim decided his qualities were best suited to replace Casemiro. Mainoo started two games in pre-season and they were both alongside Ugarte in the pivot.<\/p>\n

Fernandes made a few appearances in the No.10 role in pre-season, which allowed Mainoo<\/a> a chance to start in the deeper role, but it seems like the pair are competing for the same role in the pivot.<\/p>\n

It seems Amorim views Ugarte and Casemiro as competitors for one of the deeper midfield positions, and views Fernandes and Mainoo as competitors for the partnership’s other side.<\/p>\n

Amorim has tinkered with Mainoo’s position since his appointment from Sporting Lisbon in November, which hasn’t been particularly helpful, but it appears he has decided on which role is best for him.<\/p>\n

“I think he [Mainoo] can play in both positions in the midfield. Last year, he played more in front. I think his perfect position is more near the ball, always with the ball,” explained Amorim in the USA.<\/p>\n

“I think he is a big talent, and you guys know better than me that he is a big talent. I think he needs to increase the rhythm, the pace. I’m always on top of that with Kobbie, because he is so good sometimes but he can be better. So I have big plans. But again, like I said, one game per week, the competition is going to be huge.”<\/p>\n

Amorim will try settle Mainoo into his system this season.(Image: Andrew Kearns – CameraSport via Getty Images.)<\/p>\n

Amorim also said Fernandes’ best position in his system is ‘closest to the ball’ and he started him in the deeper role against Arsenal, so it’s fair to conclude that’s where he sees Mainoo’s future.<\/p>\n

There were valid concerns about Amorim’s handling of Mainoo last season, with the signs suggesting his future might be elsewhere, but there was a change of tone when Amorim spoke about him this summer.<\/p>\n

Amorim was notably positive and seemed enthusiastic about working with Mainoo, however, he tempered expectations last season and said he still has a long way to go in his development.<\/p>\n

At 20 years old, Mainoo is obviously far from the finished article, but he is a supremely talented young player, and it would be a travesty if Amorim couldn’t make it work this term.<\/p>\n

Not coming on from the bench against Arsenal is not a big deal and Amorim should be given a few months to work with Mainoo before any concrete judgments are made on his future.<\/p>\n

If Mainoo is a peripheral squad member by November, then alarm bells will be set ringing. United are competing in the Premier League, Carabao Cup and FA Cup this season, which means fewer opportunities, but Mainoo has enough talent to merit regular starts in Amorim’s team.<\/p>\n

There is huge interest in Mainoo, given he is an academy graduate and was so brilliant in 2023\/2024, but supporters will have to wait and see how the situation unfolds before rushing to panic stations.<\/p>\n

Remember Mainoo’s performance at Goodison Park on his Premier League debut? Remember his matchwinner against Manchester City in the FA Cup final? Amorim must make it work with the Stockport-born lad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kobbie Mainoo was left on the bench as Man Utd lost 1-0 against Arsenal in the Premier League…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":359317,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,393,4884,12243,2465,423,99,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-359316","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-kobbie-mainoo","12":"tag-manchester","13":"tag-manchester-united-fc","14":"tag-ruben-amorim","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115060911964746752","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=359316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359316\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/359317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=359316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=359316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=359316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}