Neville Rips Into Amorim's Mainoo Mishandling: 'Publicly Destroyed Him'

Gary Neville has rounded on Ruben Amorim's handling of Kobbie Mainoo, insisting the Portuguese manager's approach to the young midfielder was fundamentally damaging and ultimately counterproductive.

During his 14-month tenure at Old Trafford, Amorim started Mainoo just 16 times across 40 total appearances. The crux of the issue, according to Neville, stemmed from Amorim's public declaration that Mainoo would be battling Bruno Fernandes for the midfield role—a statement that effectively torpedoed the England international's prospects before he'd genuinely been given a fair run.

"I never liked the handling of Mainoo," Neville said on the Stick to Football podcast. "When he said at the start of the season that it was him or Bruno, I never agreed with that. It killed him. It killed him publicly. And then he never put him in the team at all, apart from Grimsby."

The former United defender believes Amorim's approach nearly pushed a genuinely talented player out of the club before his career had properly taken flight. That assessment appears vindicated by what's followed. Once Darren Fletcher took temporary charge following Amorim's departure, Mainoo was immediately restored to the starting XI. Michael Carrick, who took over until season's end, has continued to deploy the midfielder prominently.

Mainoo has since delivered the goods. He completed the full 90 minutes in both of Carrick's opening fixtures—victories against Manchester City and Arsenal respectively—operating in a deeper midfield role alongside Casemiro, with Fernandes deployed as a number 10. The youngster even registered the assist for Matheus Cunha's winner at the Emirates.

"When you watch Kobbie now in the two games, that was nearly pushing a talented player out of the club before he'd even really had a chance to perform," Neville continued. "You look at him now in these two matches."

The resurgence carries significant implications for England as well. Mainoo burst onto the international scene with his debut in March 2024 during a friendly against Brazil at Wembley, subsequently featuring in six of seven Euro 2024 matches, including the final defeat to Spain. Though he hasn't featured under Thomas Tuchel, who succeeded Gareth Southgate, maintaining this trajectory could well secure him a place in the squad for March friendlies against Uruguay and Japan ahead of next summer's World Cup.