Kobbie Mainoo’s time under Ruben Amorim was very frustrating, with a lack of minutes, but Diogo Dalot thinks this was a good thing for the Manchester United midfielder.
In the 14 months under Ruben Amorim, Kobbie Mainoo started just 16 games, with the decision one the failed head coach stuck by until his very last days in charge.
Amorim consistently declared Mainoo wasn’t good enough to be starting, despite fans and his teammates knowing otherwise, having watched him shine in 2024 for Manchester United and England.
This even led to a ‘free Kobbie Mainoo’ movement at Old Trafford, led by the midfielder’s brother. However, Diogo Dalot has another way of looking at this spell.
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Diogo Dalot says Kobbie Mainoo will benefit long-term from Ruben Amorim benching
Since Amorim’s exit, Mainoo has been brilliant under Michael Carrick, returning to and even exceeding his previous best, making the decision to bench him baffling and self-damaging for the former manager.
But Dalot thinks that in the long run, Mainoo might actually thank Amorim.
Speaking on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, Dalot has explained that Mainoo should be appreciative that he had time to improve in training and used these sessions as his base.
“What I think is that no matter the manager, you have to work the same way. People might say, ‘Diogo, you have had eight managers,’ yeah, but during these eight managers, I always tried to be the same and work hard. And that’s probably why I played a lot of games with pretty much all the managers.
“And for Kobbie, it could have gone the other way. Because it is really hard for you as a 20-year-old, you’ve played almost 80 games for Man United first-team, and you played first-team for the national team. You’ve been there at the top, and all of a sudden, you don’t play. For him to go through that experience, I think, will benefit him in the future. I think he feels that now. He valued a little bit more training.
“I saw him when he first came to the first team. All of a sudden, he’s a beast. He can hold players; he can do everything. But if you ask me about that situation, I think he will benefit a lot from going through that.”
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Diogo Dalot is speaking from his own experience at Manchester United
While eyebrows will be raised at Dalot’s claims and it certainly seems he was reluctant to criticise Amorim, the United full-back has spoke from his own experience.
“In the beginning, when Mourinho came, I played, not regularly, but I played a lot, then when Ole came, that’s when I didn’t play as much. And in this period of time, Rio, it was the best period of my career. Because I had to build my base, sometimes players think the base is playing all the time. My base was training.”
The idea that Mainoo will actually benefit having had time to develop in training is not completely crazy. But it doesn’t excuse the fact Amorim ignored Mainoo and risked letting him stagnate without game time.
Dalot once picked out Mainoo as a future United captain, which demonstrates his feelings over the midfielder. Hopefully, he is right on this and also on Mainoo benefitting long term.
Given how good Mainoo has been since getting into the team, perhaps Dalot has a point.
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