Thomas Tuchel hasn’t given Kobbie Mainoo a single minute at the World Cup
Even Ruben Amorim gave Kobbie Mainoo more minutes than this. Thomas Tuchel has made enough bad decisions this summer to fill a volume or two of How Not to Manage England, but his decision to pick the Manchester United midfielder and then completely ignore him must rank highly.
Early in the tournament, you could try and pass it off as games not being played to suit Mainoo, or the idea that other changes took priority. The midfield of Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson was clearly the first choice and you couldn’t really complain about that.
But then you realise Rice was barely half fit and it becomes harder to fathom. Then you watch England toil to keep the ball and the midfield struggle against Norway, and see Reece James and Jude Bellingham playing in central midfield ahead of Mainoo, and it’s clear that Tuchel just didn’t fancy the 21-year-old.
The centre of the pitch was a problem for England for most of the tournament. In all seven games, Tuchel took one of Rice or Anderson off, but on only one occasion did he replace them with an actual central midfielder, and that was giving Jordan Henderson the final six minutes against Panama.
Against Argentina, England had 12% possession in the 37 minutes between going ahead and going behind, but during that time he took off the quickest attacking outlet for another defender, then Rice went off for yet another defender.
Throughout it all, Tuchel ignored Mainoo’s claims. An in-form, energetic central midfielder who has added a combative edge to his game but is at his best in tight areas, dribbling out of pressure, winning free-kicks and pushing his team up the pitch. It is sheer madness to have picked him and not used him.
Mainoo was needed against Norway as well. Tuchel spent the entire second half trying to unpick the mistake he had made by bringing Eberechi Eze on for Rice, compromising the threat Bellingham had been offering all tournament as a No.10. It was baffling that he didn’t just bring Mainoo on.
Presumably, Tuchel has seen whatever Amorim saw in not fancying Mainoo, but it’s hard to see what that might be when he was exceptional for Michael Carrick in the second half of the season for United, delivering some of the most complete midfield performances of his career.
You can’t make the argument that Mainoo was shining because he was playing next to Casemiro, either. The Brazilian’s performances in the World Cup suggest it might actually have been the other way around.
Tuchel will be lucky to survive his World Cup disaster. England reached the semi-finals in spite of him, rather than because of him. There is an alternative reality where he could have been leaving anyway, and perhaps even taking up the job of head coach at Old Trafford now.
His treatment of Mainoo shows that it would have been a disaster. Tuchel met with Sir Jim Ratcliffe in the summer of 2024 and fit the bill for the kind of head coach the co-owner wanted.
Instead, he opted to sign a new deal with the Football Association, and United can be thankful the German was taken off the board. His standing has been damaged by this tournament. While Carrick can see what Mainoo can bring, Tuchel seems blind to his strengths, but that is only one of the mistakes he has made this summer.
