According to football pundit and Manchester United legend Gary Neville, Ruben Amorim’s worst decision at the club was how he treated midfielder Kobbie Mainoo.
Following his breakthrough season under former manager Erik ten Hag, the arrival of Amorim proved to be disastrous for Mainoo.
Having impressed for club and country, Amorim decided to bench the youngster as he believed that Mainoo was not a suitable option for his formation and tactics.
Despite impressing, Mainoo was made to sit on the bench and Amorim could not find a way for the England international in his team.
Now, under interim manager Michael Carrick, Mainoo is one of the first names on the team sheet.
His performances have been crucial for United’s revival this season and he has started every game under Carrick, showing his quality and his maturity even at a young age.
Gary Neville calls out Ruben Amorim
Neville has claimed that Mainoo’s treatment was the worst decision that Amorim made at Old Trafford.
“Kobbie Mainoo didn’t even get a chance under Ruben really,” the United legend claimed on Stick to Football.
“If you think about it now and look at Mainoo in this team, that looks like the worst decision Ruben Amorim made.”
“I must admit, I never liked the handling of Mainoo,” he added.
“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 cup.”
Man United midfielder Mainoo has revived his career
Amorim made life difficult for himself at Man United with some of the decisions he made.
He was adamant not to change even when things were not working for him.
Mainoo was one of the best young players in the world when Amorim arrived at the club.
Instead of giving him confidence and showing faith in him since other senior players were not doing well, Amorim decided to bench the youngster and failed to get the best out of him.
If the Porutguese manager watched United play now, he must have some regrets.
England head coach Thomas Tuchel has confirmed that Mainoo is one of the players who is back in the picture for the Three Lions.
Credit goes to Mainoo for proving himself once again and to Carrick for bringing the best out of him.
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