There was an interesting trend in Kobbie Mainoo’s latest performance for England that appears to have come from his Manchester United development.
Kobbie Mainoo’s resurgence at Manchester United in the second half of the 2025/26 season was so good that Thomas Tuchel simply couldn’t ignore it.
Despite hardly playing any football in the first half of the campaign, Mainoo was included in England’s World Cup squad for the upcoming tournament this summer.
In a matter of months, Mainoo signed a new United deal and revived his England career just in time to get on the plane to the United States.
If Elliot Anderson is £125m… What is Kobbie Mainoo’s market value right now?
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Kobbie Mainoo’s impressive trait against New Zealand
Tuchel led England to a 1-0 win over New Zealand in a friendly warm-up game in the United States on Saturday evening, with Harry Kane scoring the only goal.
Mainoo played 45 minutes against New Zealand, playing alongside Jordan Henderson in the midfield for the first half.
English press were impressed by Mainoo, and there was one part of his game which stood out.
As per SofaScore, Mainoo earned a modest 6.9 rating for his performance, but a deep dive into his statistics shows he won every single duel he contested.
Mainoo contested four ground duels and won all of them. He made two defensive contributions on top of that.
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Kobbie Mainoo’s defending and physicality is improving
Mainoo dominated the midfield physically and helped England earn a clean sheet, and that is something United fans have been picking up on.
Ever since Ruben Amorim criticised Mainoo’s physicality and energy levels, the Carrington graduate has used it as fuel for improvement.
It has been noted that Mainoo’s defending has improved, which was previously considered one of the weaker sides of his game.
He is quickly transforming into an extremely well-rounded midfielder capable of dictating tempo, breaking up play, bursting through opposition lines and dominating physically.
Mainoo may have even played himself into a starting role at the World Cup.
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