Ruben Amorim has approached his first full season at Manchester United with a real sense of clarity to his squad building, as evidenced by multiple decisions.
Be it freezing out five players before the pre-season began, or leaving out the likes of Harry Amass and Radek Vitek so they can go on loan instead, he hasn’t been indecisive over the future of many.
Sekou Kone’s case is a bit worrying, but outside of that, Ruben Amorim deserves credit for analysing the squad and identifying a key group of players he will rely on.
However, one player is somehow still hovering between the uncomfortable place of having supreme talent while undergoing regression at the same time.
Ruben Amorim told to stick by Kobbie Mainoo
When new management arrives at a club, there are bound to be some changes, which lead to some winners and losers.
Kobbie Mainoo became the unexpected loser when Ruben Amorim arrived at Man Utd, with his injury problems leaving him behind in the acclimatisation process, then his playing style was at odds with the philosophy.
Mainoo’s talent is undeniable, but there has always been an inkling that his fit in Amorim’s first XI is uneasy at best, and counter-productive at worst.
Amorim recently spoke about Mainoo as well, saying that he urges him to quicken the tempo ‘all the time’, so the dissonance is being worked on.
Man Utd fans won’t take kindly to Mainoo’s departure over some philosophical disagreement, and that’s exactly the message Martin O’Neill sent Amorim while speaking on TalkSport.
O’Neill said: “I wouldn’t give up on him at all because he’s a proper player. It looks, because he’s now not getting a regular starting spot, as if he has regressed a little bit.
“He has had a number of managers who might be telling him to do certain things. If Amorim is telling him to do some things that Erik ten Hag said almost completely the opposite of, you get confused at a young age.
“He’s got talent, there’s no question about it. Amorim is working with him on a day-to-day basis. If quickening the tempo gets him into the team next season, then do it. I wouldn’t give up on him.”
Kobbie Mainoo and Ruben Amorim’s fates are tied together
Amorim has been given a long rope and almost unconditional support for his efforts to reset the culture at the club.
The club have effectively completely given up on wingers since his arrival, and four of the unwanted five at the club are wide-men.
However, if he can’t make it work with Mainoo, the sword will fall on him instead of the player, because Mainoo has been nothing but a model professional who would thrive in most teams in world football.
Amorim needs to make it work with Mainoo almost as much, if not more, than how much Mainoo needs it to make it work with Amorim.
Their fates are tied together in the sense that if this partnership clicks, Mainoo will find another gear to his game, and Amorim’s team will tick.
If it doesn’t, and the team continues to lose games with or without Mainoo, then it might not be the player who sees the exit gate.
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