The appointment of Michael Carrick as Manchester United’s head coach, not manager, would appear to be a huge opportunity for Kobbie Mainoo to turn his Old Trafford career around—if Carrick’s past comments about the academy graduate are anything to go by.
After a whirlwind breakout saw him score the winning goal in the 2024 FA Cup final just six months after his first Premier League start and then play a key role as England reached the final of that summer’s European Championship, Mainoo has endured a challenging time since.
The youngster’s second season was broken up by frustrating injuries, before he then fell out of favour with United manager Ruben Amorim. That meant Mainoo not starting a single Premier League game in 2025–26 before the Portuguese was sacked earlier this month.
Mainoo likely would have come into starting XI against Burnley in the league when Darren Fletcher took short-term control of the team, had he not only just recovered from injury.
The 20-year-old then did start when United faced Brighton & Hove Albion in the FA Cup on Sunday afternoon, playing an hour with managed minutes. Despite the defeat, he impressed.
Carrick spoke at length about Mainoo in July during an interview with former teammate Rio Ferdinand on the latter’s YouTube channel. It was clear from that chat just how highly he rates the Stockport-born talent, which certainly bodes well for Mainoo now.
“As a young player in first two, three, four years, you’re going to have a time in that spell where it hits you and doesn’t quite go to plan,” Carrick said of Mainoo’s struggles, which became deeper in the months that followed this particular interview.
“But that doesn’t mean that you won’t get there. Your ability and talent, keep doing the right things, it comes. If you’ve got it, you’ve got it. He has shown that he’s got it.”
Carrick: Stubbornness Will See Mainoo Through
Discussing what he specifically likes about Mainoo, Carrick explained: “He’s a breath of fresh air the way he takes the ball, plays forward and commits people. He can play, dribble and pass. That doesn’t leave you, it can just, in waves, come and go at times.
“I had it—I think it was my third year at West Ham—I was terrible. I was out of the England squad, I just couldn’t put it together. I’m not saying [Mainoo] is terrible, it’s a little bit different for him. But so many players have that. It’s stubbornness to stick at it and keep believing—it’s tough at times. You need people to stick with you and believe in you as well, and trust you.”
It suggests that Carrick will now seek to work with Mainoo to bring the best out of him.
“I think we’re quite quick from season to season, or every six months, to say ‘he’s good enough’ or ‘he’s not good enough’, but we [25 years ago] were given a lot more time and it was a bit more spread out,” the incoming United boss said.
Carrick’s View of Mainoo’s Best Role in the Team
According to Carrick, Mainoo “more of an attacker” than a deep-lying or defensive player.
“I don’t see him as a holding midfielder, he’s the line above with a little bit more freedom,” the 44-year-old reasoned. “There’s different ways of defending. You can defend on that higher line, but defending deep around your centre backs is different thing completely.
“I see him playing a little bit higher with freedom, to take the ball and create. I think he’s got a massive future. I really like him, I just think he needs a bit of patience and a little bit of a break again.
“For a club to have a player that’s come through the academy, and knows and feels the club, Man United has got to have an element of that. You’ve got to have players like [Mainoo]—let’s help him, let’s build him, let’s stick with him. There’s definitely a place for him.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘He’s Got it’—Michael Carrick’s Past Words Indicate Big Change Coming at Man Utd.
