Kobbie Mainoo and Elliot Anderson might become midfield partners for both club and country next season, but Rio Ferdinand says what United already have is better than Anderson.
The midfield search for Man Utd has turned from finding a replacement for Kobbie Mainoo to finding a partner for him.
Mainoo’s resurgence under Michael Carrick has been something to behold, and on paper, Elliot Anderson fits his game like a glove.
Anderson-Mainoo is a bona fide world-class pairing with immense upside, but Ferdinand believes the better of the two already plays at Old Trafford.
With the World Cup now weeks away, which players do you predict will do well at the tournament?
And how far will they make it?👀
Rio Ferdinand picks Kobbie Mainoo over Elliot Anderson for England
Anderson has leveraged his Forest displays this season to crash his way into the England setup.
Thomas Tuchel likes him, and he’s a shoo-in to be on the plane to the USA in the summer. It won’t be a surprise to see him start either.
With Declan Rice also undroppable, and James Garner getting “mini Valverde” shouts, the route to a starting XI place looks tough for Mainoo.
However, Ferdinand disagrees, putting Mainoo ahead of Anderson in the England starting XI due to a simple reason that can’t be argued against.
Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel: “Mainoo, I want him to dictate the game. The reason I’m playing is his European championship experience.
“What he’s done in that tournament leads me to believe he’ll be unfazed. He knows what it takes to play at that level. I want the controller. Everything runs through him.”
Ruben Amorim’s Mainoo stance looks ridiculous with each day
When Ruben Amorim ignored Mainoo due to some imagined deficiencies in his game, nobody needed the benefit of hindsight to question that decision.
Is Ruben Amorim not playing Kobbie Mainoo the worst decision you can remember from a recent Man Utd manager?
Mainoo’s performances since that snub have only served to further the agenda that Amorim wrote off a generational talent.
To see Ferdinand pick him for the England squad over a player United are ready to spend more than £100m on makes Amorim’s stance look more ridiculous than ever.
The main thing is that this is unlikely to be the last instance of Amorim looking silly, because Mainoo is likely to go to the World Cup now.
This is the same player who hadn’t started a PL game under Amorim this season. Remarkable.
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