Amorim gives honest assessment on the Mainoo situation, saying he is uncomfortable having to fight for his spot.
Mainoo uncomfortable having to fight for Manchester United spot, says Amorim.
Kobbie Mainoo, 20, may be the best midfield player in the world, according to Ruben Amorim, who also said the 20-year-old felt awkward having to compete to start for Manchester United.
In United’s first three Premier League games, Mainoo has made one appearance as a substitute. He replaced Mason Mount, who was injured, at halftime of the team’s 3-2 victory over Burnley before to the international break. Mainoo was a fixture in the starting lineup under Amorim’s predecessor, Erik ten Hag. When the England international was demoted, the Portuguese were asked how he had responded.
“He’s not used to fighting for his place, maybe,” Amorim said. “He’s uncomfortable, but he’s a very good kid. He wants to learn. Sometimes it’s hard to push different things from the players.”
Mainoo scored the game-winning goal for United against Manchester City in the 2024 FA Cup final under Ten Hag. He started England’s loss against Spain in the European Championship final later that summer. Amorim reminded Mainoo of this lineage by citing Vitinha of Paris Saint-Germain, who made just five league starts during his 2020–21 loan at Wolves.
“I remember Vitinha was not playing for Wolverhampton,” Amorim said of his compatriot. “Nowadays, you can see that Vitinha is maybe the best midfielder in the world. So you never know. Something can happen sometimes.”
The coach recruited from Sporting last November continued: “The way I play is completely different from the last manager. I watched a lot of games from the Premier League in Portugal. You can feel then that Manchester United really [played in] transitions. He was the only guy that calmed down the game. Now we have other players that calm down the game.
“Sometimes I expect more from Kobbie Mainoo. Sometimes, maybe if I start [him] more, Kobbie Mainoo is going to play and he’s going to get hard to take out. I need to go with what I’m feeling at the moment and that is the only feeling. He’s starting the final of the European Championship in a team that has a lot of talented players – [Phil] Foden played that game, [Cole] Palmer was on the bench. He was playing. I know all that, but sometimes I have a different way of seeing the game.”
Sunday’s derby pits United against City. Amorim dismissed the question of whether the Catalan was under more pressure, even if Pep Guardiola’s team leads United by three points to four.
“You cannot compare. That guy is winning all the time. He can relax if he’s not winning any more. I have to prove it every day – I’m really comfortable with that. Compare me with the situation of Guardiola, it’s just a joke.
“We continue to have bigger problems but we are addressing everything. Sometimes we are frustrated, angry, but we are facing all the problems and we are trying to improve. I see the team playing so much better now. We just need to be more clinical to win more games and things are going to get easier.”