Kobbie Mainoo may have only made 33 appearances for Manchester United, but now he is about to appear for England in an international tournament.
The Stockport-born star has had a meteoric rise. His Premier League debut didn’t come until late November, but since then he has grabbed the opportunity with both hands. He finished the season as one of Erik ten Hag’s unstoppable side and capped it off with an impressive performance in the FA Cup final over Manchester City.
That man-of-the-match performance, and what turned out to be the winning goal, sealed his place on the plane to Germany, although in reality he had hardly been in doubt since his stellar debut in the March friendly against Belgium. Gareth Southgate is a big admirer of the midfielder and has quickly brought him into the senior England team.
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The Three Lions begin their Euro 2024 campaign on Sunday night against Serbia and there appears to be a place up for grabs alongside Declan Rice in central midfield. Mainoo had the chance to stake his claim in the warm-up match against Iceland, but like the rest of the England team that night, he made a mistake as Southgate’s men suffered a 1-0 defeat at Wembley.
The 19-year-old is competing with the likes of Conor Gallagher, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Adam Wharton for a place in the starting XI, but former Manchester United and England midfielder Paul Ince believes the youngster is not yet ready to make the cut. passed. above.
“I think Kobbie Mainoo has done very well this season at a struggling Manchester United, everything happened very quickly and I think he has an experienced head for such a young player,” Ince said.
“He doesn’t seem fazed by anything, so his inclusion in the team makes sense to me, but when you look at the situation in terms of England’s defensive midfielders, is he a starter?
“It depends on how Gareth Southgate wants to get there. Does he want to go with two seated midfielders and then eight in front? Or could he go with Jude Bellingham, Declan Rice and Phil Foden up front? That seems more like an answer to me. “
Ince, who was part of the 1996 England team that reached the Euro semi-finals, is a big admirer of Mainoo but says Southgate – and United – must be patient with the player.
“Is Mainoo ready now? Of course not, he’s still very young,” he told bet365. “But sometimes you get thrown in the deep end and you just have to swim. You have to survive and I think he can survive.
“But listen, we shouldn’t put too much pressure on him because he’s very young and he’s going to make mistakes. The game against Iceland wasn’t very good, he made mistakes, so when it comes to starting him I think it’s difficult.
“It depends on how attacking Southgate wants to play against Serbia. The most important thing when you play the first game is not to be defeated. So if Mainoo starts, we will have to wait and see.”
