Ruben Amorim must roll the dice and tinker with one first-team Manchester United player’s position under him at Old Trafford for the 2025-26 season.
The 40-year-old Manchester United manager is at the tail end of the 2024-25 campaign and Ruben Amorim has already experienced both the highs and lows.
United are on course for their worst finish in the Premier League era and the Red Devils’ form in the domestic league has been sporadic since Amorim’s arrival.
The Red Devils are 13th in the Premier League table with seven league fixtures remaining and United have only managed 10 wins from 31 league matches.
United took on Manchester City on Sunday afternoon and the Red Devils walked away with a Premier League point from Old Trafford after a 0-0 draw.
Amorim, who arrived at Old Trafford in 2024, has seen better fortunes in the Europa League and United are at a key turning point in their European campaign.
He could still lift major silverware as United manager this season and securing the Europa League trophy would lead the club back to the Champions League.
Ruben Amorim needs to reinvent Kobbie Mainoo’s role at Old Trafford to suit his Man Utd tactical system
Kobbie Mainoo has remained a key Manchester United first-team player at Old Trafford, but his 2024-25 campaign at the club has been disrupted by injuries.
The 19-year-old Stockport-born midfielder broke into the United first team in the 2023-24 campaign under former Red Devils manager Erik ten Hag.
Kobbie Mainoo has become a linchpin midfield influence for the Red Devils and he is part of Ruben Amorim’s plans after Erik ten Hag was sacked as United head coach.
But Amorim’s tactical system at United has placed a bigger demand on the two-man midfield and Mainoo doesn’t have the level of athleticism needed for the role.
Amorim made an experimental call to play England midfielder Mainoo as a false nine in United’s 2-0 Premier League defeat to Crystal Palace at Old Trafford in February.
Mainoo impressed as a false nine in the early stages of the match, but his influence waned and Amorim’s experiment backfired with United’s loss to Crystal Palace.
However, the Three Lions star possesses the ability to play further forward in Amorim’s system and he appears built to play as one of the two No 10s.
Paul Scholes summed up what Kobbie Mainoo’s role should be under Man Utd manager Ruben Amorim
Speaking on The Overlap in February, Paul Scholes insisted that Kobbie Mainoo is much better suited for a No 10 role under Amorim rather than playing as a false nine.
“I think Mainoo is lost,” he said at the time.
“I’ve talked about Declan Rice being lost before – I think Mainoo is lost as well. They don’t know what to do with him.
“I don’t think he knows where to play on a football pitch because he’s been played in one of the number 10 positions, he has been played in the two in the midfield, which I can see probably doesn’t suit him because I don’t think the greatest athlete.
“He’s a great footballer. I think the No 10 does suit, [but] the false nine, never in a million years.”
Mainoo has made 25 appearances across all competitions in the 2024-25 campaign and the United star has netted once and registered an assist for the Red Devils.
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