Manchester United midfielder Kobe Maino has proven Ruben Amorim wrong

After Manchester United’s first match against West Ham this season, Ruben Amorim let his guard down on Kobe Maino.

United drew 1-1 with relegation-threatened Hammers at Old Trafford in December, with Maino remaining on the bench throughout – and Amorim decided that Lisandro Martinez for Luke Shaw was a better final substitute as he looked for a winner.

“You always ask me the same thing,” the then United boss said, when asked why the 20-year-old was left on the bench.

“I understand what you’re saying. You love Kobe. He starts for England, but that doesn’t mean I need to put Kobe on when I feel I shouldn’t.”

The “You love Kobbie” comment was personal. The rationale, in Amorim’s mind, is why the media repeatedly asks him why he rarely uses Maino.

This assessment misses the point.

It wasn’t that the media liked Maino. They have previously seen the positive benefits he can bring to the team.

Judging by the 25,000 likes on a social media post on

Fans also failed to understand why the academy-raised midfielder had not made a single Premier League appearance this season before Amorim’s departure.

Amorim’s initial substitute, Darren Fletcher, brought on Maino for the final 16 minutes of last month’s draw against Burnley, removing a centre-back three to allow for an extra man in midfield.

The midfielder started the next match against Brighton in the FA Cup and kept his place for all four of Michael Carrick’s matches.

Against Tottenham, Maino set up Brian Mbeumo’s first goal with a deft pass to the edge of the box with his right foot after he raced across goal to meet Bruno Fernandes’ short corner kick.

“Yes, there is no doubt,” Carrick said afterwards when asked if Maino had returned to the form he achieved in the 2023-24 season, when he scored in the FA Cup final and started for England in the European Championship final against Spain.

Some still don’t get it.

On the face of it, seven goals and five assists in 90 first-team appearances doesn’t sound like a lot.

But that’s not the point. Mainoo has an excellent sense of the flow of matches and is an all-round midfielder.

This applied to Carrick himself two decades ago. That was the reason Sir Alex Ferguson brought him north from Tottenham.

And in a chat with his brother Graeme at the Football Association before he left United in 2018, Carrick himself explained the finer details of the ‘magnificent pass’.

“Execution is probably often the easiest,” he said.

“It’s about preparing for it, getting your body position right, understanding the context of the game, knowing the risk and reward.

“Even if it’s a three-yard pass, you’re giving the ball to someone to do something straight away. If they have to take a touch and another touch to get the ball, it’s not a great pass.

“You have to dictate the next pass, and your passing angle has to be right.

“It’s a great pass if the next part is how you see it in your head.”