Kobbie Mainoo was largely being supported when he was ignored by Ruben Amorim, and Rio Ferdinand has now hit back hard at a damaging Roy Keane theory which hurt Mainoo’s stock.
The results and performances don’t lie, and it’s clear that Kobbie Mainoo is a man freed from the shackles of a manager who didn’t know how to use him.
Starting out of nowhere under Michael Carrick, he’s the first name on the teamsheet now and has picked up from where he left off under Erik ten Hag.
Is Ruben Amorim not playing Kobbie Mainoo the worst decision you can remember from a recent Man Utd manager?
Rio Ferdinand used his recent games to hit back at a theory Roy Keane put forward to defend Ruben Amorim when Mainoo was being ignored.
Roy Keane defended Ruben Amorim’s Kobbie Mainoo treatment
It’s becoming increasingly clear that half the time in the media, Roy Keane is just leaning into his “Devil’s Advocate” character.
Even with those standards, the way he went against the grain in the Mainoo narrative was a bit infuriating.
When everyone was baffled by Amorim ignoring Mainoo constantly despite losing games, Keane put forward the theory that the manager is seeing something we’re not.
He said that Mainoo must not be working hard in training, and it is the manager’s prerogative to pick the team since he watches the players every day.
Holistically, that statement is true, but Keane would know better than anyone that the manager is not always right, since he fell out with Sir Alex Ferguson at Man Utd.
It damaged Mainoo’s stock, painting him as some slacker in training who was getting unfair support because he was someone from the academy.
Rio Ferdinand hits back at damaging Mainoo theory
To Ferdinand’s credit, he has consistently been one of the ex-players-turned-pundits who reject the notion of sensationalism for a few views and moments of virality.
If you could choose, which pundit would be BANNED from talking about Manchester United?
He supported Mainoo when he was being ignored, and his stance, much like most Man Utd fans, has now been vindicated.
Speaking on his podcast on YouTube, Rio Ferdinand Presents, he said that if Mainoo wasn’t working away from the spotlight all this time, there’s no way he’d be setting running records under Carrick.
He said: “We asked the question. ‘Is he working? Is he doing what the manager is asking him? Is he putting physical mileage on the training ground?’ There’s no doubt in my mind that you run the amount that he has; it’s concrete that he was working when he wasn’t in the team.
“The tank is empty at 60 minutes, you are on the floor when you haven’t been playing for a while, and then you start. He must be doing some real work. I tip my hat to Kobbie Mainoo.”
Mainoo has ended all the debate around his professionalism by keeping quiet when he was being ignored, and then responding with his performances when given the chance.
This is not a player who downed tools and checked out when he was set up to fail by Amorim.
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