✅ Kobbie Mainoo played 0 minutes in England’s 4–2 win over Croatia.
✅ Kobbie Mainoo played 0 minutes in England’s 0–0 draw against Ghana.
✅ Kobbie Mainoo played 0 minutes in England’s 2–0 win over Panama.
Kobbie Mainoo, who helped Manchester United finish third under Michael Carrick, can’t even get a single minute against teams like Panama and Ghana.
It almost feels like Thomas Tuchel didn’t really want to call up all the Manchester United players. Instead, he included Mainoo to avoid criticism from the media and fans, because leaving him out entirely would have been difficult to justify.
Tuchel simply doesn’t seem to rate him. Mainoo has already played in major derbies and cup finals, delivering outstanding performances for Manchester United.
He was even part of England’s starting lineup in the last European Championship final under Gareth Southgate when he was younger. Yet under Tuchel, he seems to be there only to fill a place on the bench.
It genuinely feels as though Tuchel never wanted Mainoo in the squad, but feared the backlash from the English media if he left him out completely. He likely saw the criticism that followed when Rúben Amorim benched Mainoo, and that may have influenced his decision to call him up.
As things stand, though, Tuchel doesn’t appear to trust him at all.