Photo by Michael Regan - The FA/The FA via Getty Images
Photo by Michael Regan - The FA/The FA via Getty Images
Thomas Tuchel has now dropped his biggest eye-opening account of how he handled Manchester United midfielder Kobbie Mainoo at the World Cup.
Kobbie Mainoo travelled to North America with the England squad in the summer for his first World Cup tournament after his return to form at Manchester United.
Despite climbing back into the Three Lions squad under Thomas Tuchel back in March, Mainoo was starved of minutes during England’s World Cup campaign.
Mainoo sustained a back injury during England’s final training session ahead of the Three Lions’ 6-4 win against France in the third-place play-off match in July.
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Thomas Tuchel must strike a ‘balance’ now between Kobbie Mainoo, Elliot Anderson and Declan Rice for England
Kobbie Mainoo did not feature at all during the World Cup competition and only had a bronze medal to show from his time in the England camp in the summer. The Manchester United midfielder was left fighting for a place in the Three Lions starting XI against the likes of Manchester City star Elliot Anderson and Arsenal ace Declan Rice.
United fans were left deeply frustrated by watching Mainoo not play any part in England’s midfield after his starring role under Sir Gareth Southgate in the Three Lions’ Euro 2024 run to the final. Mainoo equally had to play catch-up in pre-season after he linked up with Michael Carrick’s squad at the tail end of the tour.
Mainoo made the England squad again for the extended October international break and Thomas Tuchel sounded like there was ‘regret’ with how he approached the Three Lions international at the World Cup.
“Yes [he will be on the pitch across the matches], I expect him to be on the pitch and it is my duty to put him on the pitch,” he said at Friday’s press conference after the England squad was announced, as per BBC Sport.
“That is on me; he didn’t put a foot wrong in the World Cup. He was class in the squad and [on the] training pitch. It was a big competition we played and Rice was in the centre midfield. Elliot Anderson is fantastic for us.”
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Mainoo was alongside Jordan Henderson in essentially playing a distant second fiddle to the England midfield pivot of Elliot Anderson and Declan Rice at the World Cup. Tuchel’s stubbornness with his tactics saw Mainoo serve as a spectator for the campaign and proved to be an incredibly bad call after England’s World Cup exit.
Tuchel almost seemed keen to course-correct his mistakes after he admitted that he lacked a balanced element of trust with Mainoo compared with Anderson and Rice.
“Declan Rice is a very unique player,” he added.
“We trusted them more than we trusted Kobbie. It was a difficult moment for me; he got injured before the France game. We could not even give him minutes there, which hurt me.
“Maybe he was more hurt than me, but it is my responsibility to reward him for that.”
Actions speak louder than words for Tuchel now, and the attention will be on how the England boss tries to strike a balance between Mainoo, Anderson and Rice. It is time for the 53-year-old German head coach to prove that he does have trust in Mainoo by breaking up his Anderson and Rice pivot and mixing his options.