Kobbie Mainoo made his first Premier League start of the season against rivals City, and it was a memorable one.
It took until Manchester United’s 22nd league game of the season for Kobbie Mainoo to be selected as a starter for the first time in 2025/26.
While he was unavailable for four of those games due to injury, Ruben Amorim chose to leave Mainoo on the bench for the remaining 17.
Kobbie Mainoo in action for Manchester United vs Manchester City.
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images
Now ‘free’ again under Michael Carrick, Mainoo made the most of his chance by helping Manchester United to a 2-0 victory over rivals City.
United were so dominant that the end result could quite easily have been 6-0.
This was the first time Mainoo had played all 90 minutes and won a Premier League game since Erik ten Hag was in charge, in September 2024.
Newly released statistics have shown exactly how impactful Kobbie Mainoo was against City.
Should Kobbie Mainoo be an automatic starter under Michael Carrick now?
Kobbie Mainoo only needed 90 minutes to prove Ruben Amorim wrong!
Stats graphic
Stats: SkySports, picture: Getty
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Kobbie Mainoo set season record out of possession
Kobbie Mainoo covered more distance out of possession against Manchester City than any Manchester United player in any Premier League game this season.
Data released via Sky Sports reveal that Mainoo covered 7.9km out of possession in the 2-0 win over City.
The previous high was Manuel Ugarte’s 7.6km in the 1-0 win over Newcastle on Boxing Day.
And while this is impressive for Mainoo, further numbers reflect even more highly on Michael Carrick and his coaching staff.
Four of the top six individual distances covered in games were set by players in the win over City, with Patrick Dorgu, Bruno Fernandes and Amad all setting high figures.
Carrick’s staff only had three days to work with United’s players before the game, and in this short time they were able to get a buy-in from the team’s stars.
This was reflected with a captivating attacking performance and a tireless effort off the ball, that caused major problems for City throughout the 90 minutes.
How would YOU rate Kobbie Mainoo’s performance vs City out of 10?
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Ruben Amorim criticised Kobbie Mainoo’s physicality
Kobbie Mainoo’s performance was a testament to his ability, and a message to his doubters.
During commentary for Sky, Gary Neville cast doubt on whether Mainoo would be able to last the whole game, and he did.
Former head coach Ruben Amorim had a lot to say about Mainoo and his perceived limitations, suggesting that he lacked the ability to cover large areas of the midfield.
Amorim said: “He is really good at controlling the game, but if he plays as a no.8, he has to reach the box [and be] returning [back to midfield]. Sometimes he has to cover a lot of space.”
The former Sporting coach’s style of play might not have suited Mainoo – but that was part of the problem.
Mainoo has proved prior to and now since Amorim that he is good enough to run Manchester United’s midfield.
It was the system that was the problem, not Mainoo’s technical ability, nor his physical capability to cover large distances.
TalkingPoints TV: Was that the BEST Manchester Derby EVER?
Where does the Michael Carrick-led demolition of City rank for you?
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