ENGLAND STAR BENCHED:RUBEN AMORIM'S CONTROVERSIAL REASON FOR KOBBIE MAINOO SNUB
Man Utd coach Ruben Amorim faces fierce criticism, including from Paul Scholes, for keeping England star Kobbie Mainoo out of the Premier League starting XI this season.
Manchester United fans have been pretty patient with Ruben Amorim, especially considering he's only won eight out of 20 Premier League games at Old Trafford. Even the boos after the West Ham draw weren't that loud.
But if there's one thing that could turn fans against Amorim, it's how he's treating Kobbie Mainoo. Remember, this is a guy who used to play for England, was the star player in an FA Cup final, and started in a European Championship final. And he's still only 20.
Amorim seemed to suggest Mainoo is just another player in the squad, and Paul Scholes didn't hold back on social media, saying it was bullshit. He thinks Mainoo is being wasted because the team can't control a game. Scholes even said it might be best for Mainoo to leave.
It's tough to find a United fan who agrees with leaving Mainoo out of the starting lineup for every Premier League game this season. But Amorim doesn't seem to care about public opinion, insisting Mainoo isn't doing enough in training to earn more playing time.
"You always ask me the same thing," Amorim said, clearly annoyed. You love Kobbie. He starts for England. But that doesn't mean I have to play him if I don't think I should.
Mainoo is one of the few United players who hasn't started a Premier League game this year. When asked if he understands why Mainoo might be down about his spot in the team, Amorim said he sees it but is only focused on winning. He claims he just puts the best players on the field, regardless of who they are.
He pointed out that Manuel Ugarte played a couple of games because Casemiro was out, and Bruno Fernandes is always fit and playing in Mainoo's position. Some might see this as Amorim being tactically stubborn.
Things might have to change when Bryan Mbeumo, Noussair Mazraoui, and Amad Diallo leave for the Africa Cup of Nations. Will Mainoo finally get a chance?
I don't know. Amorim sighed. It's the same old question. It depends. If I think it's the best thing to do in training, I'll do it. That's all I can say.
After the disappointing draw with West Ham, Amorim's team is heading to Wolves on Monday night to face a team still looking for its first Premier League win. They've only got two points from 14 games.
But Amorim warned that anything can happen, and things will turn around eventually. He said no team in Premier League history has gone without a win, so they need to improve, rest, and get ready for a tough match because, for them, they're always tough.
EX-CAPTAIN NEVILLE CLAIMS SUBSTITUTIONS MADE MANCHESTER UNITED "WORSE" AGAINST WOLVES
Gary Neville slams Ruben Amorim’s "weird" substitutions and tactical shifts after Manchester United's 1-1 draw with bottom-side Wolves.
Gary Neville said that the performance of Manchester United in their match against winless Wolves was ‘the baddest of the bad.’
United would have moved fourth in the league with a win at Old Trafford last night, although Wolves, who had two points in 18 games before kickoff, ended their record of 11 straight losses with a 1-1 draw.
Amorim’s team had been knocked out of the Carabao Cup by a League Two team, Grimsby, in August, but Neville was convinced that United had hit rock bottom in a game that could have been even more one-sided were it not for two important saves by Senne Lammens.
“That was the baddest of the bad," the former United captain declared on the Gary Neville podcast.
“They weren’t just booed off at the final whistle. The fans waited in the stadium to continue to boo them. They’ve gone backwards.”
United had won at Newcastle 1-0 on Boxing Day, despite being plagued by an injury list that already lacked skipper Bruno Fernandes, Harry Maguire, and Matthijs de Ligt, as well as three players on African Cup of Nations duty.
But they remained flat right from the first whistle, and the header by Ladislav Krejci just before the half bottled Joshua Zirkzee's deflected shot.
Amorim’s formation choice of 3-4-3 was brought into focus once more as the Portuguese opted to go back to his preferred tactic of four at the back against Newcastle.
“This isn’t right. I’ve watched enough of United over the last five or six weeks to know what looks right and what isn’t right,” Neville had declared 20 minutes into his commentary on Sky Sports.
“Because, when I see that we go back (to three at the back) after five minutes tonight, I’m thinking, no, Ruben, why have you done that?
"The manager has to look at that and think, I got that wrong. I complicated it."
However, Amorim decided to substitute Zirkzee at halftime and brought on an 18-year-old Jack Fletcher, who made his third appearance at the senior level.
Regarding substitutions made by Amorim, Neville further added, “They made Manchester United worse. Every single substitution was ridiculous.”
‘If Zirkzee was injured, and it was a tactical substitution, that was a very poor one.’ But Zirkzee isn't Eric Cantona, not by a long shot, and he had to get out there for physicality, for presence, for experience.”
SEE LISANDRO MARTINEZ’S FURIOUS REACTION AFTER MAN UTD’S SHOCK WOLVES DRAW
Lisandro Martinez demands more after Man Utd’s 1-1 draw with bottom-placed Wolves. United ended 2025 sixth in the Premier League.
Stand-in captain Lisandro Martinez was mad that Manchester United dropped points against Wolves, who are at the bottom of the league.
United came into the last game of 2025 after a good win against Newcastle on Boxing Day and were expected to easily beat Wolves.
Joshua Zirkzee scored first for United, but they didn't take their chances. Ladislav Krejci's header tied the game for Wolves, 1-1.
It was only their third point in 19 games, and it stopped their 11-game losing streak. United fans booed at the end of the game.
When Martinez was asked if it felt like a disappointing point, he said, 100 percent.
We are very disappointed. We can't keep drawing or losing points at home. We have to win.
We want to be at the top, competing with the best.
We can't drop points in games like this. We just have to accept it and be hungry for the next game.
Martinez was captain again because Bruno Fernandes is still recovering from an injury.
When United coach Ruben Amorim was asked about injured players for the game against Leeds on Sunday, he didn't give much away. Leeds are really wanting to beat United for the first time since 2010.
Martinez said to MUTV, You can either make excuses, or you can be strong and say, 'We're dropping points, so we need to go for the next one and show what we can do.'
We need to work together and do the easy things to get the three points.
United is in sixth place in the league at the end of 2025, only two points behind Liverpool for the last Champions League spot. Liverpool has a game in hand.
They could be in a better position if they had been better in both boxes. Leeds has been playing well lately, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin doing great up front.
Martinez added, It's about us. I don't like to think about other teams.
I'm thinking about what we can do to get better as a team every day, and we have to learn from this game.