Manchester United treble hero Nicky Butt explains why he doesn’t fancy seeing Kobbie Mainoo taking part in Wednesday’s major showdown.
The 20-year-old’s 2025/26 campaign was a tale of two halves. After failing to make a single Premier League appearance last season under Ruben Amorim, his fortunes instantly turned following Michael Carrick’s arrival in January.
With Bruno Fernandes returning to his original No.10 role, Mainoo became an automatic starter alongside Casemiro in the double pivot.
Nicky Butt doesn’t want Kobbie Mainoo on the pitch against Argentina
While the youngster exploits in the second half of the season earned him a World Cup call-up, Thomas Tuchel has opted against fielding him in any of England’s first six contests of the tournament.
Even with Declan Rice enduring health and athletic issues and Jordan Henderson suffering an arm injury due to a freak accident, the German tactician still kept Mainoo on the bench for the duration of the matches.
Tuchel even preferred Reece James, a right-back who has only recently returned from injury, over Mainoo in the middle park.
In the latest episode of The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast, former Man United midfielder Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt discussed Mainoo’s unpleasant situation.
“It seems like it’s anybody but Kobbie Mainoo for Thomas Tuchel at the minute,” said Scholes (via Metro).
“He’s bringing Reece James on who hasn’t played for three weeks because of a hamstring injury. Only Tuchel will know why, I can’t imagine Kobbie being a problem in the camp. But every manager has their favourites, of course they do.”
Butt, who is a big fan of Mainoo, is hoping that the latter doesn’t take part in the action against Argentine in Wednesday’s semi-final, as he could become the scapegoat in case England were defeat by their historic rivals.
“Do you know something? I actually hope Kobbie Mainoo doesn’t come on now,” argued Butt.
‘Because he’s probably so down, he’s not played and he’s not kicked a football in a real game. He’s been training, obviously, but if he goes in now, the only thing he can do is bad.
“He’s not going to be at the level to go and play at that level in a semi-final. I hope he doesn’t come on. It’s anybody but Kobbie for Tuchel. He won’t be the first one to go to a World Cup and not play a minute, there’s a few players who have done that.”
Should Tuchel field Mainoo against Argentina
While Butt might have a point, one could argue that even an underwhelming performance from Mainoo would be better than a another no-show.
Moreover, the young player has a knack for producing stellar performances on the big occasions, and his fresh legs could coming in handy against the Argentine midfielders who have been through back-to-back wars against Egypt and Switzerland.
That being said, we still expect to resort to his tried-and-trusted duo of Rice and Elliot Anderson, but it remains to be seen if Mainoo will finaly be given a cameo.
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