Another difficult night for Ruben Amorim on Thursday saw his Manchester United side struggle to a 1-1 draw at home to relegation-threatened West Ham.
The Portugese manager has been under intense pressure throughout his 12 months in charge at Old Trafford, though he appeared to have earned a reprieve when United won four games in a row towards the end of October.
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A lot of that hope has now evaporated, with just one win in five and back-to-back home disasters against West Ham and Everton.
One of the biggest question marks hanging over Amorim is his apparent inability to affect games with substitutions, and that was apparent in abundance on Thursday evening.
Undoubtedly the most perplexing trait of Amorim's for many United fans has been his bizarre refusal to use Kobbie Mainoo in midfield.
Mainoo remains one of Europe's most highly-rated young midfielders, but Amorim has appeared adamant to use all of United's midfielders ahead of him, even the dramatically underperforming Manuel Ugarte.
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Amorim again chose to bring in Ugarte off the bench on Thursday, rather than opt for Mainoo, with United conceding shortly thereafter and Mainoo spending the entire 90 minutes on the bench.
In 2024, Mainoo was an essential part of the United team that won the FA Cup and the England team that reached the Euro 2024 final, making his repeated lack of gametime especially bizarre.
The Manchester United manager attempted to explain his persistent refusal to play Mainoo in his post-match press conference on Thursday, and his comments drew the ire of club legend Paul Scholes.
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Paul Scholes tears into Ruben Amorim's treatment of Kobbie Mainoo
In his post-match press conference, Ruben Amorim took issue to a question asking whether he could have made a more "offensive" sub than bringing on Manuel Ugarte.
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Amorim asked the journalist in question who could have been a more attack-minded replacement, before laughing when Kobbie Mainoo's name was mentioned.
The Manchester United head coach has previously referred to Mainoo as a "starter," despite not starting the English midfielder once in the Premier League this season.
Evidently, Mainoo's repeated absences have gotten to United legend Paul Scholes, who slated Amorim in a since-deleted rant posted to his Instagram story.
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🚨📸 | Paul Scholes on Instagram regarding Amorim’s treatment of Mainoo:
“Bullsh*t.. the kid is being ruined, not being played in a team that can’t control a game of football! Hate seeing home grown players leave but it’s probably best for him now, enough is enough.” pic.twitter.com/NCAK68Ybq5
— (fan) Frank 🧠🇵🇹 (@AmorimEra) December 5, 2025
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Posting a graphic which carried Amorim's older remarks referring to Mainoo as a "starter," Scholes wrote:
Bullshit.
The kid is being ruined, not being played in a team that can't control a game of football.
Hate seeing home grown players leave but it's probably best for him now, enough is enough.
For someone like Paul Scholes, who spent his entire career at Manchester United, to be advocating for a superb academy product to leave the club, is hugely damning for Ruben Amorim.
Mainoo was heavily linked with a move away from Old Trafford over the summer, even putting in a transfer request due to his lack of minutes at the club.
As that issue has worsened this season, it is hard to envisage the 20-year-old will not leave on loan next month.
For Manchester United, the question of whether they are willing to part ways with Kobbie Mainoo permanently is worryingly close on the horizon.
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