OLD TRAFFORD — With every passing match, Ruben Amorim’s decision to leave Kobbie Mainoo out in the cold is becoming one of the most baffling managerial calls in modern football history.
Enough has been said about Amorim’s stoicism over his beloved system. No further words are needed to highlight just how fundamentally flawed his lack of flexibility was.
You can at least see what Amorim was trying, and there was something almost admirable in his unwavering faith in his footballing principles.
Mainoo is a very different story. We have seen in the past four games that Mainoo could have fitted into Amorim’s formation like a driving glove. In fact, Mainoo could have saved Amorim. This is the kind of catalyst for change he can be.
His showing against Tottenham as Michael Carrick and United made it four wins from four under the interim coach was the best of the lot since his reintegration. A performance that provided the final conformation Mainoo will be, and to an extent already is, front and centre of what this stuttering behemoth longs to be.
The consummate ease in which Mainoo has come in from the periphery, when his career at his boyhood club seemed all but over, defies logic.
Starting for England at the World Cup is now a distinct possibility once more. A matter of weeks ago, he did not seem to have any hope of even a seat on the plane. Elliot Anderson is going to need to conjure a fine season’s end to keep his starting spot, if Mainoo’s current trajectory is going to continue heading for the stars at the speed of light.
“There’s no doubt what Kobbie can bring. He’s still so young and we just need to be careful about putting all this on his shoulders and expecting so much of him,” Carrick said, before being unable to stop the eulogy escaping.
“He’s had a big high, and then, obviously, he didn’t play for a little bit. It’s easy to think he’s a lot older and more experienced than he is, but credit to him, he’s come right in and found his rhythm of football, which is not easy after a period of time out. There’s definitely more to come from him.”
The turnaround is astonishing. Mainoo wanted to leave, even on a permanent basis, just over a month ago. New contract talks had ground to a halt, with his half-brother’s publicity stunt, donning a “Free Kobbie Mainoo” t-shirt, causing more ruptures in a fractured club-to-player relationship.
The contrast in demeanour now is as different as night and day. Mainoo is last to stop celebrating in front of the Stretford End, with his people. The embraces between Carrick and Mainoo are typical of any teacher of the midfield craft and his star pupil.
All Amorim’s doubts have been made to look unconceivably churlish. Mainoo has covered more ground than any player on the pitch in three of United’s four wins under Carrick.
Against Spurs, albeit with Thomas Frank’s side depleted in number after Cristian Romero’s red card, Mainoo won more duels and completed more take-ons than any teammate, while registering his second assist in three games.
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It is the little touches, the guile, the craft, the class that stands Mainoo above his compatriots. Figures who make elite level football look as easy as this simply cannot be curtailed.
The standing ovation he received late on as he was replaced was well-earned. While out of the team, the forgotten prodigal son, kept his head down, worked hard, even in his own time, knowing full well his opportunity would come again.
Supporters have their beacon of hope back. The only frustration is the overriding feeling of what could have been, had Amorim not seen what was staring him in the face this whole time.
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