It needs to be a season of redemption for most Manchester United players who were here last season, and Gary Neville has noticed a marked change in one already.
Ruben Amorim has now finished his first pre-season, and a marquee game against Arsenal to kick off the Premier League season is on the horizon.
The Man Utd manager has already said that he has an idea of who his most relied-upon players will be this season, but they can change his mind.
Gary Neville has now said that one player he tipped for big things looks “physically changed”, and that bodes well for him.
Manchester United Training Session
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images
Gary Neville notices a changed Kobbie Mainoo
The 2024/25 season was a fall from grace for Kobbie Mainoo, but even that is only said relatively, because his rise was so meteoric.
Mainoo came out of nowhere to play at the Euros finals for England, so for him not to be the first name on the teamsheet in a historically struggling Man Utd side was jarring to see.
Amorim clearly rates Mainoo highly, but wants to see more from him, especially in terms of quickening the tempo and adding more legs to his game.
Neville, speaking on The Overlap, said he used to believe Mainoo would be a mainstay in Amorim’s team as one of the two deeper midfielders, but it hasn’t panned out that way.
More United News
However, the new version of Mainoo he’s seen this season could be on his way to reclaim his spot.
He said: “I looked at Kobbie Mainoo last week, and it looked like he has physically changed. He looked stronger and sturdier than he was before. I thought he would be an absolute certainty to play as one of the two midfield players for Man Utd in the next few years, but Ruben Amorim doesn’t see it that way.” [Begins at 1.11.38 in the video below]
Kobbie Mainoo’s fortunes are tied with Ruben Amorim
It can be argued that the role Mainoo played last season was exactly the one he should have played since his breakthrough.
Putting too much pressure on young players as soon as they break through, and calling them “saviours,” is detrimental to their development.
One only needs to look at what that did to Alejandro Garnacho, who is making the biggest mistake of his career, and it is too late to walk it back.
Having said that, Amorim’s handling of Mainoo will need to change slightly this season because his fate is linked to the midfield wonderkid.
Mainoo has been a model professional, unlike Garnacho, so another season of him falling down the pecking order at Old Trafford when he should be breaking through won’t sit right with Man Utd fans.
If Mainoo manages to become what Amorim wants him to be, then Amorim also needs to take a step forward and try to fit the player in his first XI.
Mainoo’s success will be Amorim’s success, and vice versa. It will be the same for the failure of either party.
What Neville noticed about Mainoo has been noticed by others, too. Now it’s time for Amorim and the player to ensure Neville’s other prediction for Mainoo starts coming to fruition.