Gary Neville accuses Ruben Amorim of ‘killing’ Man United star in his ‘worst decision’

Gary Neville has slammed Ruben Amorim’s treatment of Kobbie Mainoo as his ‘worst decision’ at Manchester United before the Portuguese coach’s sacking in January

Gary Neville has described Ruben Amorim’s failure to utilise Kobbie Mainoo more this season as the former Manchester United head coach’s ‘worst decision’.

The 20-year-old did not feature in a single Premier League starting line-up this season before Amorim’s departure on 5 January. Since then, Mainoo has been a regular fixture under interim boss Michael Carrick and was instrumental in United’s impressive run of four consecutive victories.

The midfielder is also mounting a late challenge to secure a place in the England squad ahead of this summer’s World Cup. During Amorim’s tenure, the academy product believed he would need to move elsewhere to secure the playing time necessary to catch the attention of England head coach Thomas Tuchel.

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His recent displays are precisely why Neville thinks Amorim’s refusal to give Mainoo opportunities in the side contributed to the Portuguese coach’s undoing. The pundit said on Stick to Football: “Kobbie Mainoo didn’t even get a chance under Ruben, really. If you think about it now and look at Mainoo in this team, that looks like the worst decision Ruben Amorim made.”

Neville accused the former United boss of ‘killing’ Mainoo. He continued: “I must admit, I never liked the handling of Mainoo. I think we talked about that a lot on this show. I never liked the handling of that.

“When he [Amorim] said at the start of the season that it was him or Bruno [Fernandes], I never agreed with that. It killed Kobbie Mainoo. It killed him publicly, and then he never put him in the team at all, apart from against Grimsby in the [League] Cup.

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Mainoo will be aiming to continue disproving Amorim when United face Everton next Monday. Another strong performance could enhance his chances of being selected for Tuchel’s squad for England’s two friendly matches in March.

Tuchel recently confirmed that the 20-year-old was ‘back in the picture’ alongside United colleagues Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw. Speaking at the Nations League draw on Thursday, the Three Lions manager said: “It is great that [Mainoo] is back on the pitch.

“He is such a huge talent. He has already played a tournament [Euro 2024] from start to finish for England (Mainoo started every match of the knockout stages), so he is back in the picture, so is Luke Shaw, and so is Harry [Maguire].

“There are some players suddenly back in the picture; they [United] play a back four now and play with a different style, which is a bit easier to translate to our structure at the moment. It’s good competition.”

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